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FRA  GIOVANNI  ANGELICO 
DA  FIESOLE 


AND 


THE   EARLY   FLORENTINE   PAINTERS 
OF  THE   FIFTEENTH   CENTURY 


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ILLUSTRATED    BIOGRAPHIES    OF 
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The  following  volumes,  each  illustrated  rvith  from  14  to  20  Engravings, 
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ITALIAN,   &-C. 
FRA  ANGELICO.     By  Catherine  M.  Phillimore. 
FRA  BARTOLOMMEO.     By  Leader  Scott. 
LEONARDO  DA  VINCI.     By  Dr.  J.  Paul  Richter. 
MICHELANGELO.     By  Charles  Clement. 
RAPHAEL.     Froai  J.  D.  Passavant.     By  N.  D'Anvers. 
TITIAN.     By  Richard  Ford  Heath,  M.A.,  Oxford. 
TINTORETTO.     By  W.  RoscOE  Osler.     From  researches  at  Venice. 
VERNET  AND  DELAROCHE.     By  J.  Ruutz  Rees. 

TEUTONIC. 
HOLBEIN.     From  Dr.  A.  Woltmann.     By  Joseph  Cundall. 
THE  LITTLE  MASTERS  of  GERMANY.^     By  W.  B.  Scott. 
REMBRANDT.     From  Charles  Vosmaer.     By  J.  W.  Mollett,  B.A. 
RUBENS.     By  C.  W.  Rett,  M.A.,  Oxford. 

VAN  DYCK  AND  HALS.     By  Percy  R.  PIead,  Lincoln  College,  Oxford. 
FIGURE  PAINTERS  of  HOLLAND.     By  Lord  Ronald  Gower,  F.S.A. 

ENGLISH. 
HOGARTH.     By  Austin  Dobson. 
REYNOLDS.     By  F.  S.  Pulling,  M.A.,  Oxford. 
GAINSBOROUGH.     By  G.  M.  Brock-Arnold,  M.A.,  Oxford. 
TURNER.     By  W.  Cosmo  Monkhouse. 

WILKIE.     By  J.  W.  Mollett,  B.A.,  Brasenose  College,  Oxford. 
LANDSEER.     By  Frederick  G.  Stephens. 

The  following  volumes  are  in  preparation  : — 
VELAZQUEZ.     By  Edwin  Stowe,  M.A.,  Oxford. 
GIOTTO.     By  Harry  Quilter,  M.A.,  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 
ALBRECPIT  DURER.     By  Richard  Ford  Heath,  M.A,  Oxford. 
CORREGGTO      By  M.  Compton  Heaton. 

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FRA  ANGELICO. 

From  the  representation  of  him  in  the  Fresco  of  the  ^'Last  Juagnient,''  by 

Fra  Bariolomnieo,  in  Santa  Maria  Nttova,  Florence. 


The  whole  world  without  Art  would  be  one  great  wilderness  " 


FRA   ANGELICO 


BY     CATHERINE     MARY     PHILLIMORE 

AUTHOR  OF  VARIOUS  ARTICLES  ON  ITALIAN  LITERATURE 


0ATJ]?Oi 


LONDON 
SAMPSON  LOW,  MARSTON,  SEARLE,  &  RIVINGTON 

CROWN  BUILDINGS,  FLEET  STREET 
I881 


{Ail  rights  nserved.) 


LONDON:    R.    CLAY,    SONS,    AND   TAYLOR, 
BREAD   STREET  HILL,    E.G. 


I 


.1 


PEEFACE. 

THE  writer  has  been  guided  in  tlie  difficult  task  of 
treating  tlie  early  period  of  the  Italian  Renaissance 
by  the  criticisms  and  opinions  of  some  of  the  most  recent 
Italian  authorities ;  especially  those  of  the  great  scholar 
Signor  Milanesi,  in  his  new  edition  of  Yasari,  the  writings 
of  the  Dominican  Padre  Marchese,  and  others  whose  names 
appear  in  the  Bibliography. 

The  work  has  been  further  assisted  by  the  careful  re- 
searches, among  the  documents  of  the  "  Libreria  Maglia- 
becchiana,"  of  a  correspondent  at  Florence,  who  is  the 
author  of  the  work  on  the  second  period  of  the  Renaissance, 
in  this  series  {i.e.j  Fra  Bartolommeo  and  Andrea  del  Sarto). 

In  the  arrangement  of  a  treatise  like  the  present,  which 
must,  of  necessity,  deal  with  the  critical  as  well  as  the 
historical  side  of  the  Renaissance,  the  writer  has  had  the 
benefit  of  a  course  of  study  in  the  Art  Classes  of  Mrs.  E.  M. 
Ward.  Besides  the  technical  instruction  admirably  imparted 
in  these  classes,  the  writer  had  also  the  privilege  of  appealing 
in  all  difficult  points  of  Art  criticism  to  the  large  experience 
of  this  eminent  and  accomplished  Artist. 


C.  M.  P. 


October,  1880. 


5to  % 


Lii> 


CONTENTS. 

PACK 
INTttODUCTION ix 

CHAPTER  I. 

STEFANO   FIORENTiXO— PAOLO   UCCELLO— MASOLINO   DA   PANICALE    .  1 

CHAPTER  IT. 

MASACCIO 16 

CHAPTER  III. 

FRA   ANGELirO .         25 

CHAPTER  IV. 

FRA   FILIPPO   LIPPI   AND    HIS    IMMEDIATE   FOLLOW KRS 5 

CHAPTER  V. 

BENOZZO   GOZZOLI 74 

CHAPTER  VI. 

OIL   PAINTING    IN    FLORENCE.      ANDREA    DEL   CASTAGNO — DOMENIOO 

VENEZIANO — ALESSO   BALDOVINBTTI — THE    PESELLI        ....         81 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   GOLDSMITH   PAINTERS   OF  FLORENCE  AND   VERROCCHIO     ...         87 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   FLORENTINE   ARTISTS    IN   ROME ....       106 

APPENDIX  :    TRANSLATIONS  OF  ITALIAN    QUOTATIONS,   AND    NOTES  ON 

DISTEMPER,    FRESCO,    AND   OIL 117 

INDEX 121 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

PoBTBAiT  OF  Fra  Angelico.    Bt  Fka  Anget.tco     .    .    .    Frontispiece. 

The  DELroE.    By  Uccello 7 

The  Expulsion  fbom  Paradise.    By  Masaccio 20 

The  Kesuscitation  of  the  King's  Son.    By  Masaccio 21 

An  Angel.    By  Fra  Angelico  . 30 

The  Adoration  of  the  Kings.    By  Fra  Angelico 37 

S.  Lawrence  giving  Alms.    By  Fra  Angelico 49 

The  Coronation  of  the  Virgin.    By  Filippo  Lippi     .......     63 

The  Martyrdom  of  S.  Peter.    By  Filippino  Lippi 69 

S.  Peter  and  S.  Paul  before  the  Proconsul.    By  Filippino  Lippi      .    69 

The  Vision  of  S.  Bernard.    By  Filippino  Lippi 70 

The  Campo  Santo,  Pisa 76 

Noah  and  his  Family.    By  Bknozzo  Gozzoli .79 

The  Coronation  of  the  Virgin.    By  Botticelli 91 

The  Visitation.    By  Ghirlandajo 98 

Bartolommeo  Coleoni.    By  Andrea  del  Verrocchio 104 

Part  of  the  Last  Judgment.    By  Signorelli Ill 

Portrait  of  Signorelli.    By  Signorelli    ....; 112 


BIBLIOGEAPHY. 


LANZI,  Luiar.  Storia  Pittorica  della  Italia  dal  Eisorgimento  delle  Belle 
Arti  fin  presso  al  fine  del  xviii,  Secolo.    Firenze,  1825. 

MAKCHESE,  Vincenzo.  Memorie  del  piii  insigni  Pittori,  Scultori,  e 
Architetti  Domenicani,  con  aggiunta  di  alcuni  scritti  intomo  le  Belle 
Arti.    2  vols.     Firenze,  1845—46. 

CROWE,  J,  A.,  and  G.  B.  CAYALCASELLE.  A  new  History  of  Painting  in 
Italy,  from  the  Second  to  the  Sixteenth  Century.  Drawn  up  from  Fresh 
Materials  and  Recent  Researches  in  the  Archives  of  Italy  ;  as  well  as  from 
Personal  Inspection  of  the  Works  of  Art  scattered  throughout  Europe. 
3  vt)ls.     London,  1864r— 66. 

CARTIER,  E.  Life  of  Beato  Angelico  da  Fiesole,  of  the  Order  of  Friar- 
Preachers.  Translated  by  a  Member  of  the  same  Order,  from  the  French 
of  E.  Cartier.    London,  1865. 

KUGLER.  Handbook  of  Painting.  The  Italian  Schools.  Based  on  the 
Handbook  of  Kugler.  Originally  edited  by  the  late  Sir  Charles  L.  East- 
lake,  P.R.A.  Fourth  edition,  revised  and  remodelled  from  the  latest 
researches  by  Lady  Eastlake.    London,  1874. 

RUSKIN,  John.  Mornings  in  Florence.  Being  simple  Studies  of  Christian 
Art,  for  English  Travellers.     1875. 

KUNST  und  KUNSTLER  des  Mittlelalters  und  der  Neuzeit.  Fea  Giovanni 
Angfxico  da  Fiesole,  by  Eduard  Dobbert ;  Masaccio,  Sanded  Botti- 
celli, FiLiPPiNO  LiPPi,  DoMENico  Ghirlandajo,  by  Dr.  Karl  Woer- 
mann  ;  and  LuCA  Signoeelli,  by  Dr.  Robert  Vischer.    Leipzig,  1875—8. 

MILANESI,  Gaetano.  Le  Opere  di  Giorgio  Vasari ;  con  nuove  Annotazioni 
e  Commenti  di  Milanesi.     Firenze,  1878 — 79. 

BURCKHARDT,  De.  Jacob.  The  Cicerone.  An  Art  Guide  to  Painting  in 
Italy.  For  the  use  of  Travellers  and  Students.  Translated  from  the 
German  of  Dr.  Jacob  Burckhardt  by  Mrs.  A.  H.  Clough.  A  new  edition, 
revised  and  corrected  by  J.  A.  Crowe.    London,  1879. 

OWEN,  A.  C.  Art  Schools  of  Mediaeval  Christendom.  Edited  by  J.  Ruskin. 
London,  1879. 


INTRODUCTION. 

AS  the  fourteenth  century  will  always  remain  an  epoch 
in  the  history  of  Art,  on  account  of  the  decoration  of 
the  Campo  Santo,  by  Giotto  and  his  pupils ;  so,  the  dawn  of 
the  fifteenth  century  marks  yet  another  step  in  its 
progress. 

Hitherto,  Pisa  had  been  the  cradle  of  the  early  genius  of 
Italy.  Her  extensive  commerce  had  first  introduced  the 
taste  for  Art  into  the  country,  and  her  Campo  Santo,  the  first 
public  work  of  art,  became  the  scene  of  competition  between 
the  great  painters  of  the  age.  But  in  the  year  1406  Pisa  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Florentines.  Deprived  not  only  of  her 
artificers,  but  of  nearly  all  her  citizens,  it  was  vain  to  hope 
that  the  arts  would  any  longer  find  a  home  in  the  shattered 
and  destroyed  city.  They  were,  however,  gladly  welcomed  in 
Florence,  whose  citizens  in  the  first  flush  of  pride  at  their  new 
conquest,  were  eager  to  adorn  their  capital,  and  to  make  it 
worthy  of  their  increased  dignity  and  power. 

Cosimo  de'  Medici — called  the  father  of  his  country — was 
then  at  the  head  of  the  state ;  to  be  succeeded  by  the  great 
patron  of  Literature  and  Art,  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent. 
The  hereditary  taste  for  the  fine  arts  in  the  Medici  family 
has  been  the  theme  of  all  the  historical  annals  which  record 
their  reigns. 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

Their  palace  became  the  Lyceum  of  philosophers,  the  Arcadia 
of  poets,  and  the  academy  of  painters.  The  talents  of  Paolo 
Uccello,  Masaccio,  Filippo  Lippi,  Benozzo  Gozzoli,  Sandro 
Botticelli,  and  the  Ghirlandaij,  were  developed  under  these 
princely  auspices ;  and  the  painters  in  their  turn  showed  a 
grateful  sense  of  this  favour  by  immortalising  their 
protectors. 

With  the  course  of  centuries  it  would  almost  seem  as  if  the 
two  changed  places,  the  patron  owing  his  existence  in  the 
memory  of  mankind  to  the  painter,  who,  according  to  the 
beautiful  conception  of  a  modern  Italian  poet,  becomes  a  king. 

"  But  not  of  those 
Before  whose  face  the  trembling  subjects  bow. 

#  *  *  * 
'   For  in  the  mind's  vast  continent  a  realm 

Called  Painting  lies — one  of  the  favoured  spots 
Where  Beauty  loves  to  dwell. 

There,  hand  in  hand, 
See  Grace  with  Nature  lead  her  ceaseless  dance  ; 
There  gorgeous  Fantasy  with  Pomp  displays 
Her  retinue  of  thought, — ideas  arrayed 
In  colours  bi'illiant  as  the  rainbow's  arch, 
But  more  perpetual. " 

And  over  this  kingdom  he  rules  with  undisputed  sway. 

"  The  Crown  which  glitters  on  his  head 

The  Universe  unanimous  bestows, 
His  sceptre's  sway  all  living  nations  own  ; 
Ay,  and  those  yet  to  come — 

*  *  *  # 
Lord  of  the  future."  ^ 

"  Lord,"  indeed,  "of  the  future,"  when  we  perceive  that 
the  lapse  of  more  than  four  centuries  has  not  diminished  the 

^  Canto  di  ^hardo  Alcardi,  pp.  180 — 183. 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

interest  in  their  paintings,  nor  dimmed  the  freshness  of  colours 
which  have  been  thus  poetically  and  aptly  described. 

Many  a  long- forgotten  member  of  the  House  of  Medici  still 
lives  on  the  canvas  of  his  protege  in  the  portraits  of  the 
Eastern  Kings  offering  gifts  before  the  Shrine  at  Bethlehem. 
Perhaps  the  painter  may  have  caught  the  idea  from  the  stately 
mien  of  his  patron  in  the  rich  garments  of  some  newly- 
acquired  Florentine  dignity ;  perhaps,  even  it  may  have  been 
suggested  to  him  that  it  would  be  well  to  accustom  the  people 
to  the  sight  of  the  regal  sceptre  and  robes  which  were  after- 
wards to  be  associated  with  that  proudly  ambitious  house. 

Whatever  the  source,  the  art  of  painting  may  be  said  to 
have  profited  by  this  introduction  of  portraiture  which  neces- 
sitated a  strict  imitation  of  nature.  There  is  no  need  to  point 
out  how  great  this  advantage  was  in  cases  where  the  acci- 
dental beauty  of  the  subject  inspired  the  artist's  treatment : — 
witness,  the  beautiful  figure  of  "  Ginevra  de'  Benci,"  who 
appears  so  often  in  the  paintings  of  Ghirlandajo  in  the 
choir  of  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria  Novella. 

The  patronage  of  the  Medici  stimulated  the  good  taste 
of  the  citizens,  not  only  of  Florence,  but  also  of  the 
neighbouring  communities,  who  vied  with  one  another  in 
adorning  their  cities  and  churches,  at  a  time  when  religious 
feeling  was  prominent  in  art. 

To  this  spirit  the  cathedral  in  Florence  was  in  itself  a 
striking  witness :  and  many  other  churches — their  walls 
covered  with  pious  paintings  by  the  devout  pupils  of  Giotto's 
school — soon  reared  their  heads  in  the  city. 

We  might  take  for  one  example  the  painting  formerly 
ascribed  to  Simone  di  Martino,  in  the  Spanish  chapel  of  Sta. 
Maria  Novella.      So  "noble  a   piece  of  pictorial  philosophy 


Xll  INTRODUCTION. 

and   divinity,"  Mr.   Ruskin  tells  us,  that   it  took  him  five 
weeks  to  fully  appreciate  one  quarter  of  it.^ 

This  spirit,  which  in  the  fourteenth  century  more  especially 
revealed  itself  in  paintings,  found  a  'still  wider  scope  in  the 
fifteenth  century  in  sculpture,  statuary,  bronze,  gold,  and 
silver  work. 

There  was  a  great  demand  for  statues  and  bas-reliefs  to 
adorn  the  new  Cathedral,  the  Baptistery,  the  Church  of  Or' 
San'  Michele,  and  others ;  and  soon  Donatello,  Brunelleschi, 
Ghiberti,  Filarete,  Rosselli,  I  Pollaiuoli,  and  Yerrocchio  pro- 
duced their  wonderful  works. 

From  such  masters  as  these  the  youth  of  Florence  learnt  the 
first  principles  of  their  profession— principles  at  once  broad 
and  universal,  applicable  to  all  the  branches  of  Art. 

Thus  it  would  frequently  occur  that  the  same  artificer  would 
be  a  sculptor,  painter,  a  bronze-founder,  a  goldsmith,  an 
enamel-worker,  and  even  an  architect  besides.  Such  was  the 
dawn  of  the  Renaissance  in  Florence,  the  first  among  the 
cities  of  Italy  to  bask  in  the  sunshine  of  the  golden  age 
of  Art. 

^  Mornings  in  Florence.     IV.  The  Vaulted  Book,  p.  108. 


PRECURSORS    OF    FRA    ANGELICO. 


CHAPTER  I. 

STEFANO    FIOEENTINO,    UCCELLO,    AND    MASOLINO. 


STEFAJt^O  FIOEENTINO.     Born  1301.     Died  1350. 

**  Facesti  come  quel  che  va  di  notte 
Che  porta  il  lume  dietro,  e  k  se  non  giova 
Ma  dopo  sh  fa  le  persone  dotte."  ^ 

1  Purg,  xxii.  66-69. 

THE  servile  imitation  of  the  Greek  artists  was  at  an 
end.  Giotto  and  his  pupils  had  released  art  from 
the  swathing-bands  of  infancy,  yet  still  the  untaught  steps 
tottered  along  the  difficult  road,  while  the  hands  feebly 
groped  in  the  dark  after  the  hidden  power  which  was  shortly 
to  be  held  with  so  firm  and  enduring  a  grasp. 

But  at  present  the  figures  seemed  to  slide  out  of  the 
pictures,  the  buildings  were  not  in  perspective,  and  the  art 
of  foreshortening  was  imperfectly  understood. 

Stefano  Fiorentino  was  more  alive  to  these  difficulties  than 
capable  of  remedying  them ;  yet,  in  his  picture  of  Lucifer 

^  For  translations  see  Appendix. 

P   F   A  B 


2  THE  PRECURSORS   OF  FRA  ANGELICO. 

cast  out  of  Heaven,  he  made  a  bold  attempt  to  grapple  with 
them  ;  and  his  treatment  of  the  falling  angels  was  so  great 
an  advance  in.  the  art  of  foreshortening  upon  anything 
hitherto  attempted,  that  it  obtained  for  him  the  nickname  of 
^'Scimia  della  natura  "  (the  Ape  of  Nature).^ 

It  was  the  period  when  the  study  of  Nature  was  beginning 
to  exercise  its  fascinating  influence  upon  Art,  A.  general 
feeling  prevailed  among  the  artists  that  this  class  of  study 
was  of  more  avail  than  the  mere  imitation  of  even  a  perfect 
model.  But,  as  might  be  expected  at  first,  their  studies  were 
without  discrimination;  new  difficulties  assailed  them  at 
every  turn  which  they  paused  to  analyse  and  examine,  and 
in  many  cases  the  end  was  lost  in  the  eager  pursuit  of  the 
means  by  which  it  was  to  be  attained. 

Many  a  lifetime  was  spent  in  the  single  effort  to  master 
one  of  the  various  branches  of  art  under  this  new  and  diffi- 
cult aspect,  such  as  perspective,  light  and  shade,  or  the 
chemistry  of  colours.  We  could  have  no  better  illustration 
of  this  than  the  life  of  Paolo  Uccello. 


PAOLO  UCCELLO.     Bobn  1397.     Died  1475. 

Pa.olo  di  Dono,  commonly  called  Uccello,  was  born  at  a 
time  when  the  science  of  perspective  was  the  chief  object 
of  research  among  the  great  masters  in  art.  Brunelleschi 
was  about  to  impart  its  rudiments  to  Masaccio ;  Donatello 
was  finding  out  its  adaptation  to  sculpture  ;  and  Ghiberti  for 
the  first  time  was  applying  its  principles  to  bas-relief,^  in  the 
gates  of  S.  Giovanni. 

Paolo  Uccello  was  so  fortunate  as  to  be  associated  with 
him  in  this  immortal  work.     He  began  life  as  a  goldsmith, 

1  Vasari,  Milanesi's  ed.  1878-9,  p.  460.  ^  Yasari,  note  to  p.  221. 

i: 


PAOLO  UCCET.LO.  .  3 

and  in  this  capacity  was  apprentice  to  Ghiberti,  at  the  time 
when  he  was  engaged  upon  the  second  gate  of  the  Baptistery. 
Paolo  had  learnt  the  rudiments  of  his  art  from  the  mathe- 
matician Giovanni  Manetti,  and  had  specially  devoted  him- 
self to  the  study  of  perspective  with  an  enthusiasm  which 
led  him  to  sacrifice  much  in  order  to  obtain  proficiency 
in  the  coveted  science.  The  great  sculptor  Donatello,  his 
intimate  friend,  pointed  out  to  him  that  he  was  taking  the 
shadow  for  the  substance. 

"  Eh,  Paolo,"  he  said  to  him,  on  finding  him  absorbed  in 
some  of  the  most  intricate  problems ;  "  this  perspective  of 
yours  makes  you  abandon  what  is  certain  for  that  which  is 
uncertain."  ^ 

But  no  persuasion  could  induce  him  to  give  up  a  study 
which  was  the  delight  of  his  life.  It  is  said  that  he  would 
pass  whole  nights  and  days  consecutively  working  out  his 
problems,  and  that  to  the  reiterated  entreaties  of  his  wife 
that  he  would  take  some  rest,  he  would  only  reply — "  Oh  che 
dolce  cosa  h  la  prospettiva  "  ("  How  delightful  is  perspective  "). 
His  whole  genius  was  concentrated  upon  this  study,  and  we 
can  trace  in  his  works  his  gradual  progress  towards  the  goal 
which  he  set  before  him — the  earlier  revealing  his  struggles 
to  represent  the  foreshortened  parts,  and  perspective  lines, 
the  latter  the  high  degree  of  perfection  to  which  he  after- 
wards attained,  either  in  his  buildings  and  colonnades,  in 
which  he  conveys  the  idea  of  a  vast  distance  in  a  small 
space,  or  in  his  treatment  of  figures,  which  he  foreshortens 
with  a  success  hitherto  unknown  to  the  pupils  of  Giotto. 
Still  the  bas-relief  treatment  which  he  had  learned  when 
an  apprentice  to  Ghiberti  always  appears  in  his  pictures. 
He  was,  in  truth,  more  of  a  sculptor  than  a  painter ;  nor  is 
it  known  from  whom  he  learned  actually  to  paint,  though,  as 
has  been  already  observed,  the  sister  arts  were  practised  at 
the  same  time  in  the  various  studios  of  Florence.^ 

1  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  p.  205.  2  ggg  Introductiou. 

B  2 


4  THE  PEECURSORS   OF   FRA   ANGELICO. 

His  first  pictures  were  in  fresco,  in  the  Hospital  of  Lelmo  ;  ^ 
these,  with  several  others  of  his  paintings,  have  perished. 
The  most  important  which  remain  to  us  are — 

(1.)    His  battle  pieces. 

These  were  originally  in  the  garden  of  the  Bartolini  at 
Gualfonda,  near  Florence,  and  they  contained  portraits  of 
Paolo  Orsini,  Ottobuono  da  Parma,  Luca  da  Canale,  Carlo 
Malatesta  da  Kimini,  all  famous  captains  of  the  day.  One  of 
these  paintings  only  remains  in  the  Uffizi,  another  is  in  the 
Louvre,  the  third  is  in  the  National  Gallery. ^  This  last  one 
is  said  to  be  the  best  of  the  set.  It  represents  the  Battle  of 
Sant'  EgidiOy  July  7,  1416,  "in  which  Carlo  Malatesta,  Lord 
of  Rimini,  and  his  nephew,  Galeazzo,  were  taken  prisoners 
by  Braccio  di  Montone.  From  the  fragments  of  arms,  etc., 
strewed  upon  the  ground,  the  battle  has  been  already  fought ; 
and  the  incident  represented  appears  to  be  an  attempt  at 
rescue;  which  supposition  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that 
Malatesta  is  marching  under  a  strange  standard.  Of  the 
many  armed  knights  on  horseback  represented,  only  four 
are  engaged,  but  all  except  Malatesta  and  his  nephew  have 
their  faces  concealed  by  their  visors.  The  young  Galeazzo, 
not  yet  a  knight,  carries  his  bassinet  in  his  hand.  The  figure 
lying  on  the  ground  to  the  left  is  an  illustration  of  the 
painter's  love  of  foreshortening.  In  the  background  is  a 
hedge  of  roses  mixed  with  pomegranate  and  orange  trees, 
and  some  hilly  ground  behind."  The  picture  is  in  tempera 
on  wood,  6  ft.  high  by  10  ft.  5  in.  in  width. 

The  details  of  each  and  all  of  these  paintings  show  that 
Uccello  was  already  reaping  the  harvest  of  his  careful  studies 
in  perspective,  but  the  labour  bestowed  upon  them  was  too 
^  Lelmo  or  Lemmo,  afterwards  San  Matteo,  and,  since  1784,  the  **Ac- 
cademia  delle  Belle  Arti."  It  was  so  called  from  its  founder,  Lemmo 
Balducci,  whose  bust  is  still  there,  and  whose  coat  of  arms  can  he  seen 
outside  the  building  in  the  corner  between  the  Via  della  Sapienza  and  the 
Via  Ricasoli.— Va&ari,  ed.  1878-9,  note  to  p.  206. 
2  No.  583. 


PAOLO   UCCELLO.  O 

evident — and  the  perspective  appears  as  the  end  and  object 
of  the  picture  instead  of  a  means  of  assisting  the  illusion. 
The  secret  of 

"  L'arte  che  tutto  fa  nulla  si  scopre," 

Paolo  Uccello  and  many  others  had  yet  to  learn.  We  do  not 
know  the  exact  date  of  these  pictures,  but  as  the  battle  which 
forms  the  subject  of  the  last  was  fought  in  1416,  they  must 
have  been  painted  subsequent  to  that  date. 

(2.)  His  portrait  of  the  Englishman,  Condottiere  Hawk- 
wood,  in  S.  Maria  del  Fiore  at  Florence. 

This  was  executed  in  1436,  and  shows  what  great  progress 
Uccello  had  made  in  the  interval  in  the  art  of  foreshortening. 
It  was  painted  in  terra  verde — an  imitation  of  a  stone 
sepulchre  having  a  bracket  high  up  on  the  wall  drawn  as  if 
seen  from  below — a  pedestal  resting  on  the  sepulchre,  on  this 
the  profile  of  a  horse  carrying  the  "  Condottiere."  Both 
horse  and  man  were  of  colossal  size,  but  for  some  reason  or 
other  the  work  was  not  approved  of  by  the  Florentines,  and 
the  archives  of  the  Duomo  record  an  order  "  to  take  down 
the  equestrian  figure  which  is  not  properly  painted  by  Paolo 
Uccello,  and  to  repaint  it  in  terra  verde.'*  ^ 

It  is  not  positively  known  whether  the  Portrait  of  Hawk- 
wood,  still  to  be  seen  in  the  Cathedral  at  Florence,  is  the  first 
or  second  of  Paolo's  productions.  The  hostile  criticism  may 
be  in  part  ascribed  to  the  action  given  by  the  artist  to  the 
horse.  He  makes  it  rest  only  on  one  fore,  and  one  hind  leg  ; 
for  a  long  time  this  made  it  the  subject  of  much  discussion. 
It  has  since  been  pronounced  correct  and  true  to  nature, 
Fossombroni,  in  his  memorandum  as  to  the  motion  of  animals, 
declaring  that : 

"  Paolo  Uccello,  who  has  been  the  object  of  such  fierce 
attack  on  account  of  his  painting  of  the  horse  in  the  Duomo 

1  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  p.  212. 


6  THE  PRECUESOES   OF  FEA  ANGELICO. 

at  Florence,  because  the  horse  has  both  feet  raised  on  the 
right  side,  is  as  much  in  the  right  as  Giovan  Bologna,  who 
modelled  his  horse  in  the  same  manner."  ^  Or  we  might  in- 
stance Donatello's  horse  of  Gattamellata  at  Padua,  which 
has  precisely  the  same  action.  It  is  curious  that  the  same 
discussion  should  have  been  revived  a  few  years  ago  by  the 
action  of  Miss  Thompson's  horse  in  her  famous  picture  of 
the  Roll  Call, 

(3.)  His  frescoes  in  S.  Maria  Novella. 

These  were  perhaps  the  most  considerable  of  his  works,  and 
display  both  the  result  of  his  indefatigable  studies,  and  his 
natural  gift  for  drawing  animals.  Yasari  tells  us  that  had 
he  spent  the  same  labour  upon  the  study  of  the  figure  and 
animals  from  the  life,  as  upon  the  problems  of  perspective,  he 
would  have  been  the  Bassano  of  his  age.  In  the  Creation 
of  Animals,  the  subject  of  the  first  fresco,  he  found  ample 
scope  for  the  exercise  of  this  special  gift.  Yasari  describes 
with  enthusiasm  portions  of  this  fresco  which  have  since 
perished — from  the  lions  painted  to  the  life,  as  though 
about  to  spring  upon  each  other,  down  to  the  fishes  and 
birds ;  these  latter  so  admirably  rendered  as  to  give  the 
artist  the  nickname  of  "Uccello"  (bird),  which  has  ever 
since  remained  by  him. 

The  Creation  of  Man,  the  most  perfect  of  the  paintings  so 
far  as  preservation  is  concerned,  the  Temptation,  and  the 
Expulsion,  form  the  subjects  of  the  adjoining  frescoes.  In 
each  of  them  the  landscapes  should  be  noticed,  as  Paolo  was 
the  first  to  bestow  care  and  attention  in  rendering  them. 
The  Building  of  the  Ark  is  supposed  to  be  by  another  hand. 
But  the  Deluge  bears  the  unmistakable  marks  of  Paolo's 
treatment  in  its  motion  and  force,  the  masterly  drawing  of 
the  figures  and  animals,  and  the  expression  of  the  different 
affections — terror,  anger,  and  dismay. 

'•  As  to  perspective  and  anatomy,  sufficient  is  to  be  found 
1  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  note  to  p.  212. 


8  THE  PRECURSORS   OF   FRA  ANGELICO. 

in  this  one  fresco  for  tracing  the  exact  picture  of  Uccello's 
talent ;  and  for  gaining  the  conviction,  that  he  had  mastered 
the  problem  of  retreating  lines  to  various  vanishing  points  on 
a  common  horizon,  or  in  the  definition  of  circles  and  curves 
at  different  distances,  and  on  numerous  planes.  His  masterly 
foreshortening  in  floating  corpses  must  have  astonished  the 
men  of  his  time."  ^ 

His  perspective  again  stood  him  in  good  stead  in  diminish- 
ing the  distant  forms.  Two  more  scenes  from  the  life  of 
Noah  complete  the  set.  In  one  of  these,  Noah's  Sacrifice, 
Paolo  seems  to  have  reached  the  climax  of  his  ambition. 

Indeed,  Uccello's  idea  of  his  art,  which  he  wished  to  convey 
to  posterity,  would  not  have  disgraced  a  later  stage  of  the 
Renaissance,  and  was  summed  up  in  five  portraits  which  he 
painted  and  always  kept  by  him — Giotto,  as  a  painter,  the 
luminary  of  art ;  Filippo  di  Ser  Brunelleschi,  for  architecture  ; 
Donatello,  for  sculpture  ;  Giovanni  Manetti,  for  geometry  and 
mathematics  ;  and  himself  for  perspective  and  animal  painting. 

Paolo's  works  out  of  Florence  are  confined  to  Padua  and 
Urbino.  At  Padua  he  worked  at  the  same  time  as  Donato, 
and  painted  in  the  entrance  of  the  Casa  di'  Vitaliani,  some 
giants  in  terra  verde,  which  were  highly  esteemed  by  Andrea 
Mantegna.  At  Urbino,  late  in  life  when  he  was  about 
seventy-two  years  old,  he  was  invited  to  paint  an  altar- 
piece  by  the  brotherhood  of  Corpus  Cristi,  but  this  is  no 
longer  in  existence ;  though  it  is  suggested  as  a  possibility 
that  it  may  exist  under  a  different  name — that  of  Giusto  of 
Ghent  in  the  church  of  S.  Agatha. 

Another,  among  many,  of  the  interesting  works  of  Uccello 
which  have  been  lost  to  us,  was  a  predella  of  an  altar-piece 
at  S.  Maria  Maggiore  at  Florence,  of  which  one  panel  was 
painted  by  Masaccio.  The  curious  paintings  in  the  Loggia 
de  Peruzzi  at  Florence  have  also  perished.  They  represented 
the  elements  as  four  animals — the  earth  as  a  mole,  water  as 

'  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle's  Hist,  of  Painting  in  Italy,  vol.  ii.  p.  295. 


PAOLO    UCCELLO.  V 

a  fish,  fire  as  a  salamander,  air  as  a  chameleon,  but  never 
having  seen  a  chameleon,  and  deceived  by  the  likeness  of 
name,  he  represented  this  latter  as  a  camel  with  its  mouth 
open  drinking  in  air.i 

A  rather  sad  anecdote  closes  the  account  of  Uccello's  in- 
defatigable efforts.  He  was  employed  to  paint  the  portrait 
of  S.  Thomas,  above  the  door  of  the  church  of  S.  Tommaso 
in  the  Mercato  Vecchio. 

Paolo  intended  that  this  picture  should  embody  the  result 
of  his  life-long  labours,  and  carefully  concealed  it  from  the 
sight  of  every  one  till  it  should  be  done.  Donato  inquired 
with  curiosity  what  was  the  work  which  he  so  studiously  veiled 
from  all  eyes.  Paolo  replied  that  he  should  not  see  it  till  it 
was  done,  but  that  it  would  be  a  sight  worth  waiting  for. 

Donato  was  content  to  wait  in  the  expectation  of  so  great 
a  work  of  art,  till,  one  day  passing  by  chance  the  Mercato 
Yecchio  at  a  time  when  Paolo  was  at  work,  the  painting 
was  uncovered,  and  the  artist  asked  him  his  opinion. 

Donato  examined  it  narrowly,  and  then  said,  "Why, 
Paolo  !  now  when  it  is  the  time  to  cover  it  up,  you  have 
displayed  it ! " 

This  opinion  of  a  work  which  he  had  intended  for  a  chef 
d'oeuvre,  so  disheartened  Paolo,  that  he  had  no  longer  nerve  to 
show  himself  in  Florence  ;  and  he  shut  himself  up  in  his  house, 
plunging  once  more  into  his  favourite  problems  of  perspective. 
He  died  in  his  eighty -fifth  year,  1475,  and  was  buried  in  the 
church  of  the  S.  Maria  Novella  in  the  tomb  of  his  father. ^  A 
tardy  justice  was  rendered  to  his  talents  in  many  epigrams 
and  couplets,  of  which  the  following  is  one  . — 

*'  Zeusi  et  Parrasio  ceda  et  Polignoto, 
Ch'io  fei  I'arte  una  tacita  natura 
Diei  affetto  et  forza  a  ogni  mia  figura, 
Vola  agli  uccelli,  a'  pesci  il  corso  e'l  noto." 


Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  p.  21.  =  Ibid,  p.  217. 


10  THE  PEECURSORS  OF  FRA  ANGELICO. 


Paolo  TJccello's  Works. 

His  genuine  works  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  public 
galleries,^  with  the  exception  of  three  out  of  four  of  the 
battle-pieces  painted  originally  in  the  Bartolini  Gardens,  and 


(1.)  In  the  Fffizi  at  Florence.     (No.  29,  1st  Corridor.) 
(2.)  In  the  Ex-Campana  Collection  of  the  Louvre. 
(3.)  In  the  National  Gallery.     (No.  583.) 

The  Equestrian  Portrait  of  Hawkwood   in  the  Duomo  at 
Florence. 

The  Frescoes  in  the  Cloisters  of  S.  Maria  Novella. 
The  Giants  in  the  Casa  dei  Vitaliani  at  Padua. 


MASOLINO  DA  PANICALE.     Born  1382.     Died  1447. 

We  select  Masolino  da  Panicale  as  the  next  instance 
among  the  Florentine  artists  who  mark  the  transition  from 
the  old  to  the  new  manner. 

The  son  of  Cristoforo  di  Fino  "an  imbiancatore,"  he, 
Tommaso,  was  born  at  Panicale  di  Val  d'Elsa,  whence  his 
nam©  is  derived.  Like  so  many  of  the  Florentine  artists  he 
was,  as  a  child,  trained  as  a  goldsmith ;  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
he  learned  painting  under  Gherardo  della  Stamina.  Yasari 
tells  us  that  he  afterwards  studied  in  Home,  and  that  while 
there  he  decorated  the  hall  of  the  Casa  Orsino  Yecchia  in  Monte 
Giordano,  but  there  seems  to  be  a  doubt,  which  can  never  now 
be  solved  (as  the  frescoes  have  long  ago  perished),  whether  they 
are  to  be  ascribe'd  to  Masolino  or  to  Giottino.^     Altogether 

1  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  vol.  ii.  p.  299. 

2  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  vol.  iii.  p.  264. 


MASOLINO  DA  PANICALE.  11 

the  early  records  of  Masolino's  works  have  to  be  received 
with  caution,  owing  to  the  confusion  which  not  unnaturally 
arose  between  two  painters  of  nearly  the  same  name  and 
date — "  Masolino  "  and  "  Masaccio,"  both  being  corruptions 
of  the  Christian  name  "  Tommaso." 

To  make  the  matter  still  more  complicated,  a  third  painter 
of  less  distinction,  but  still  with  the  same  nickname, 
"Maso"  (son  of  Cristoforo  Braccia),  existed  at  the  same 
time,  and  worked  under  the  great  Ghiberti  at  the  gates  of 
S.  Giovanni.  This  is  proved  by  records  extant,  and  as 
Masolino's  style  would  barely  support  the  theory  of  his 
having  been  the  pupil  of  the  great  sculptor,  it  is  possible  that 
Yasari  may  have  been  misled  by  the  similarity  of  names  in 
his  statement  to  that  effect.^ 

But  turning  away  from  these  doubts  and  uncertainties, 
recent  discoveries  have  revealed  to  us  some  of  Masolino's 
undeniable  work  signed  with  his  name. 

The  Frescoes  of  Castiglione  di  Olona. 

The  Church  of  Castiglione  di  Olona,  in  the  province  of- 
Como,  between  Tradate  and  Yarese,  was  built  upon  the  site 
of  an  ancient  castle  by  Cardinal  Branda  di  Castiglione  in 
1422.  It  was  dedicated  to  Our  Lady  of  the  Kosary,  and  SS. 
Lawrence  and  Stephen ;  and  Masolino  da  Panicale  was  chosen 
by  the  Cardinal  to  decorate  his  new  church  with  frescoes. 
These  he  completed  in  142S.  For  years  they  have  been 
concealed  by  whitewash,  and  were  only  rescued  in  the  year 
1843  by  the  exertions  of  the  "Abate"  Malvezzi,  who  had 
further  the  intention  of  publishing  a  series  of  lithographs  of 
the  long-concealed  treasure,  but  receiving  no  support,  was 
obliged  to  abandon  his  intention.  The  subjects  of  the  frescoes 
are  representations  of  incidents  taken  from  the  lives  of  the 
Virgin,  and  the  saints  to  whom  the  church  is  dedicated. 

In  the  vault  above  the  altar  are  the  scenes  from  the  life 
^  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  vol.  i.  p.  513. 


12  THE  PRECURSORS   OF   FRA  ANGELICO. 

of  the  Blessed  Yirgin,  the  Annunciation,  the  Marriage  with 
S.  Joseph,  the  Nativity  of  Christ,  the  Adoration  of  tJie  Magi, 
the  Assumption  and  Coronation  of  tlie  Virgin.  Of  these  two 
last  but  little  remains.  The  historical  interest  of  these 
frescoes  centres  in  that  of  the  Nativity,  in  which  the  founder 
of  the  church,  Cardinal  Branda,  appears  as  one  of  the  kneel- 
ing figures,  and  in  a  scroll  to  the  right  is  the  inscription, 
"  Masolinus  de  Florentia  Pinxit."  Scenes  from  the  life  of 
S.  Lawrence  and  S.  Stephen  are  represented  on  the  walls  of 
the  choir,  which  is  of  an  octangular  form.  They  are  in  two 
different  groups,  the  acts  of  S.  Lawrence  on  the  one  side,  and 
those  of  S.  Stephen  on  the  other.  The  exact  date  is  un- 
happily lacking,  though  one  may  form  a  guess  at  it,  from  a 
bas-relief  in  the  lunette  above  the  architrave  of  the  entrance 
door  of  the  church,  of  the  same  period,  but  by  another  hand. 
This  bas-relief,  of  considerable  merit,  represents  the  Virgin 
enthroned,  with  the  Infant  Saviour  in  the  act  of  blessing 
Cardinal  Branda,  who  kneels  on  the  left-hand  side,  supported 
by  S.  Lawrence  and  one  of  the  popes;  on  the  opposite  side  are 
SS.  Ambrose  and  Stephen,  and  by  the  latter  of  these  two 
saints  the  date  1428  is  engraved  on  the  marble — the  same 
date  runs  round  the  upper  and  lower  cornice  of  the  architrave, 
where  are  the  figures  of  the  four  Evangelists,  and  these  bear- 
ing the  date  1435  we  are  led  to  suppose  that  the  decoration 
of  the  church  and  baptistery  occupied  about  seven  years. 

The  frescoes  in  the  Baptistery  represent  scenes  from  the 
life  of  S.  John  the  Baptist : 

"The  Baptistery  is  built  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram 
with  a  tribune  of  the  same  shape,  but  smaller  dimensions, 
attached  to  it.  Moving  to  the  right  as  he  enters  the 
Baptistery,  the  spectator  will  notice,  on  the  entrance  wall, 
traces  of  figures  in  a  temple.  On  the  next  niche  is  the 
daughter  of  Herodias  before  Herod  with  the  usual  attendant 
episodes  ;  by  the  side  of  the  arch  leading  into  the  tribune, 
the  execution   of   S.  John.     The   rest    of   the  Baptistery   is 


MASOLINO   DA  PANIC  ALE.  13 

denuded  of  fresco  except  in  that  part  which  faces  the  dance 
of  the  daughter  of  Herodias,  where  Zacharias  may  be  seen 
writing  the  name  of  his  new-born  son.  In  the  vaulting  of 
the  arch  leading  into  the  tribune  are  six  saints,  and  in  the 
key-stone,  the  date  of  1435  painted  of  a  smoke-colour,  and 
apparently  modern.  In  the  tribune,  S.  John,  on  the  wall 
to  the  left,  preaches  to  a  multitude ;  in  the  lunette  and 
sides  of  the  end  wall,  he  baptizes  the  Saviour,  and  is  brought 
before  Herod,  whilst  on  the  face  to  the  right,  he  appears  in 
prison.  The  ceiling  of  the  Baptistery,  divided  as  usual  by 
diagonals,  contains  the  four  evangelists,  that  of  the  tribune 
the  Saviour  in  a  glory  of  angels."  ^ 

In  this  series  of  frescoes,  the  figures  of  the  four  evangelists 
are  the  best  preserved,  and  in  the  least  changed  portions  we 
can  trace  a  careful  and  delicate  handling,  an  excellent  method 
of  colouring,  both  in  the  heads  and  the  flesh  tints.  The 
colours  in  the  drapery  have  been  absorbed  by  the  damp,  the 
distemper  employed  being  less  tenacious  than  that  used  for 
the  flesh  tints.^ 

These  undoubted  works  of  Masolino  da  Panicale  have  given 
rise  to  much  discussion,  whether  those  ascribed  to  him  in  the 
Brancacci  Chapel  are  his  genuine  work.  It  is  argued  that 
the  style  of  the  work  is  totally  different.;  and  we  are  told 
that  Masolino  began  them,  and  died  before  they  were  finished, 
leaving  Masaccio  to  complete  the  work.  Now  Masaccio 
died  in  1428,  so  Masolino  survived  him  many  years.  Again, 
documents  still  extant  record  that  shortly  after  Masolino 
had  been  admitted  into  the  Guild  of  the  Speziali,  1423, 
he  entered  the  service  of  Filippo  Scolari,  Ohergespann  of 
Temeswar,  commonly  called  Pippo  Spano.    Spano  is,  perhaps, 

^  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  vol.  i.  p.  503. 

*  The  account  of  these  frescoes,  and  sketches  taken  from  them,  were 
supplied  to  Milanesi  for  his  new  edition  of  Vasari  by  several  artists  and 
amateurs  of  the  fine  arts  who  visited  them  for  that  purpose. — Vasari,  note 
to  p.  272. 


14  THE  PRECURSORS  OF  FRA  ANGELICO. 

a  corruption  of  Ohergespann}  "  Pippo  Spano"  was  a 
Ghibelline  by  birth,  and,  on  that  account,  an  exile  from 
Florence.  He  served  the  King  of  Hungary,  first  as  a 
captain,  and  afterwards  as  a  statesman,  when  he  was  made 
Obergespann  of  Temesvar.  His  wealth,  of  which  fabulous 
accounts  are  given,  was  employed  in  building  churches,  and 
then  sending  to  his  native  country  for  artists  to  decorate 
them.  Among  these  artists  was  Masolino  ;  to  whom,  accord- 
ing to  the  inscription  just  cited,  the  heirs  of  "  Pippo  "  owed 
a  sum  of  360  florins.     This  was  in  the  year  1427. 

In  1428  he  painted  the  Castiglione  frescoes.  There  is  no 
record  of  his  return  to  Florence,  so  if  he  had  any  share  in  the 
frescoes  in  the  Brancacci  Chapel,  it  must  have  been  previous 
to  his  work  at  Castiglione. 

This  is  admitted  as  just  possible,  and,  while  the  latest 
commentators  on  Vasari^  recognise  the  force  of  these 
arguments,  they  do  not  consider  them  sufficiently  con- 
vincing to  withdraw  from  Masolino  the  paintings  hitherto 
assigned  to  him  in  their  apportionment  of  the  frescoes  among 
the  three  artists.^ 

But  the  common  theory,  that  Masolino  was  prevented 
from  finishing  his  work  by  death,  is  obviously  incorrect : 
the  Castiglione  frescoes  were  executed  subsequent  to  those 
attributed  to  Masolino  in  the  Brancacci  Chapel. 

As  Paolo  XJccello  became  the  slave  of  perspective,  so 
Masolino  gave  himself  up  in  turn  to  the  study  of  the  detail 
of  form  to  the  sacrifice  of  composition,  in  his  eagerness  to 
depict  nature  as  he  saw  it.  He  is  said  by  some  to  have 
been  a  great  master  of  chiaroscuro. 

As  to  his   colouring,  the   damaged   state  of   his  frescoes 
^  Hungarian  title,  signifying  a  Supreme  Count. 
2  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  vol.  ii.  pp.  265-273. 

^  Viz. ,  the  Preachmg  of  S.  Peter,  the  Healing  of  the  Lame  Man  at  tJie 
Beautiful  Gate  hy  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  and  the  Resuscitation  of  PetrO' 
nilla  (Tabitha).  It  has  also  been  called  the  Raising  of  Jairus^  Daughter, 
Adam  and  Eve  beneath  the  Tree  of  Knowledge,— Ihid.  p.  324. 


MASOLINO   DA  PANICALE.  15 

would  make  it  difficult  to  give  an  opinion,  but  the  system 
employed  was  the  distemper  ("a  tempera''),  which,  until  the 
invention  of  oils,  was  a  general  practice  of  the  Italian  artists. 
The  colours  were  first  moistened  with  water,  and  afterwards 
thickened  into  consistency  by  some  glutinous  mixtures,  white 
of  egg  or  the  juice  of  the  young  shoots  of  the  fir-tree.  Fra 
Angelico's  numerous  specimens  convey  the  best  idea  of  this 
method  of  colouring.  The  same  mechanism  was  used  in  the 
miniature  painting  on  vellum.  In  fresco  painting  the  colours 
were  laid  on  while  the  plaster,  spread  over  the  surface  to  be 
painted,  was  fresh  and  wet ;  they  afterwards  sank  into 
the  surface,  became  incorporated  with  it,  and  became  as 
durable  as  the  substance  which  received  them. 

No  one  knows  the  origin  of  the  invention,  but  it  dates  as 
far  back  as  the  Egyptians,  from  whom  it  was  borrowed  by 
the  Greeks.  The  paintings  of  Polygnotus  at  Delphi  are  said 
to  have  been  in  fresco,  and  the  mechanism  of  the  art,  which 
required  great  dexterity  and  quickness  of  hand,  is  said  to 
have  been  better  understood  then  than  ever  afterwards,  even 
in  the  time  of  Raphael. 

Besides  the  frescoes  of  Castiglione,  a  few  other  vestiges  of 
Masolino's  painting  still  remain  in  Lombardy ;  but  there  is 
so  great  an  uncertainty  about  them  that  they  cannot  be  cited 
as  his  genuine  works.  It  is  supposed  that  Paolo  Schiavo 
was  one  of  Masolino's  pupils,  and  that  he  did  credit  to  his 
master's  teaching  in  the  foreshortening  and  colouring  of  his 
figures.  But  of  this  the  painting  of  the  Madonna  between 
two  Saints  on  the  wall  of  the  Canto  de'  Nelli  at  Florence  is 
produced  as  a  solitary  example.. 


-CHAPTER  II. 
MASACCIO.     Born  1401.     Died  1428. 

**  Pinsi,  e  la  mia  pittura  al  ver  fupari ; 
L'atteggai,  I'avvivai,  le  diedi  il  moto, 
Le  diedi  affetto — Insegni  il  Bonarroto 
A  tutti  gli  altri,  e  da  me  solo  impaii." 

MASACCIO  was  the  son  of  a  notary,  Ser  Giovanni 
di  Simone  Guidi,  of  Castello  San  Giovanni  in  the 
Val  d'Arno. 

He  was  born  on  St.  Thomas's  Day,  1401.  Hence  his 
Christian  name  of  "  Tommaso,"  of  which  the  corruption 
"Maso"  had  shortly  the  derogatory  termination  "accio" 
affixed  to  it,  on  account  of  the  boy's  slovenly  and  disorderly 
habits.  It  has  ever  since  remained  by  the  painter,  and  only 
under  this  name  are  his  illustrious  works  known  to  the 
world. 

From  his  early  youth  he  showed  an  extraordinary  natural 
ability.  This,  when  developed  by  continual  study  and  the 
training  of  such  masters  as  Ghiberti,  Donatello,  and  Brunel- 
leschi,  enabled  Masaccio  to  reach  a  summit  of  excellence 
hitherto  unattained  by  the  Florentine  artists. 

He  was  among  the  first  to  introduce  freedom  and  ease  into 
art,  facing  the  difficulties  with  confidence,  and  overcoming 
t  hem  without  betraying  the  effort  which  his  victory  had  cost 


MASAGCIO.  17 

him.  We  might  take  as  an  instance  the  practice,  which,  with 
some  few  exceptions,  generally  prevailed,  of  representing  the 
figure  poised  on  the  points  of  the  toes,  to  avoid  the  fore- 
shortening of  the  feet.  Masaccio  despised  this  awkward 
subterfuge,  and  succeeded  in  foreshortening  the  foot  in  such 
a  manner  that  the  old  ungraceful  practice  was,  after  his  time, 
never  resorted  to  again. 

If  his  drawing  was  admirable,  his  colouring  was  equal 
to  it,  being  famous  for  that  almost  untranslatable  Italian 
word  "  morbidezza " ;  which  combines  the  expression  of 
softness,  flexibility,  and  texture  in  the  rendering  of  the 
flesh  tints. 

It  is  not  clear,  owing  to  the  confusion,  already  alluded  to 
in  the  chapter  on  Masolino,  between  the  names  and  dates 
of  the  two  painters,  whether  Masaccio  learnt  of  Masolino. 
The  recent  discoveries  throw  great  doubt  upon  this  point, 
representing  that — as  Masolino  entered  the  Guild  of  the 
Speziali  in  1423,  and  Masaccio  in  1421 — Masaccio  must  have 
entered  it  two  years  before  his  master !  In  1424  we  find  the 
record  of  his  being  enrolled  in  the  Guild  of  Painters.  He 
worked  in  Pisa,  and  in  Florence,  before  going  to  Rome,  but 
these  works  have  perished. 

At  Rome  he  acquired  a  great  reputation  in  his  decoration 
of  one  of  the  chapels  in  the  Church  of  S.  Clemente,  with 
frescoes  representing  the  Passion  of  our  Saviour,  and  scenes 
from  the  Life  of  S.  Catherine.  These  early  works,  though  full 
of  the  promise  of  his  early  genius,  are  not  to  be  compared  to 
his  later  productions. 

The  Crucifixion  is  represented  on  the  wall  facing  the 
entrance.  One  of  the  groups  in  the  foreground,  of  the  Virgin 
in  a  swoon  supported  by  the  three  Maries,  was  afterwards 
copied  by  Perugino.  The  Legend  of  S.  Catherine  occupies  the 
wall  to  the  left  of  this  series  ;  the  finest  composition  and  the 
best  preserved  is  that  which  represents  the  Defeat  of  the 
Doctors  before  Maxentius. 

p  p  A  G 


^fc 


18  THE  PEECURSOES   OF  TEA  ANGELICO. 

"  S.  Catherine,  standing  in  the  centre  of  a  hall,  at  whose 
sides  eight  doctors  are  seated,  propounds  and  enforces  her 
arguments  by  the  action  of  one  hand  on  the  other.  Her  rea- 
soning seems  chiefly  directed  to  one  on  the  foreseat  to  the  left, 
who  looks  up,  whilst  his  arms  are  crossed  on  a  book  resting 
on  his  knee.  Maxentius  sits  on  a  throne  at  the  bottom  of  the 
room  in  an  attitude  of  majestic  repose,  and  his  face  is  affected 
by  surprise."^ 

There  were  several  other  pictures  executed  by  Masaccio  at 
Rome ;  one  of  these,  the  Portraits  of  the  Pope  Martin  V.  and 
the  Emperor  Sigismund,  suggests  the  date  of  his  sojourn 
there,  which  coincides  with  that  of  the  re-appearance  of  the 
Plague  at  Florence  (1417). 

In  1420,  the  return  from  exile  of  the  Medici,  who  had 
always  been  his  friends  and  patrons,  enticed  him  back  to 
Florence.  Yasari  tell  us  that  Cosimo,  il  Yecchio,  was  then  ih 
T^ower,  but  the  date  will  not  support  the  theory  ;  and  it  was 
more  probably  Giovanni  di  Bicci  de'  Medici,  whose  portrait 
was  twice  painted  by  Masaccio ;  once  as  a  figure  in  a  proces- 
sion, and  again  in  a  picture  which  once  existed  in  the  Casa 
Simon  Corsi. 

Giovanni  di  Bicci  de'  Medici  is  known  in  the  history  of 
Florence  as  the  inventor  of  the  Income  Tax  Schedule,  which 
supplied  not  only  himself  but  posterity  with  information  as 
to  the  lives  and  estates  of  his  subjects. 

By  these  means  we  know  that  Masaccio  was  very  poor,  that 
he  lived  with  his  mother  and  brother  Giovanni,  also  a  painter 
(but  far  inferior  to  Masaccio),  in  a  house  in  the  quarter 
S.  Croce,  and  that  Tommaso  kept  a  shop  near  the  old  Badia, 
that  he  had  many  debts,  and  was  obliged  to  place  some  of  his 
property  in  pawn.  Happily  for  posterity  this  struggling 
existence  did  not  cramp  his  powers  nor  fetter  his  genius. 

His  frescoes  in  the  Brancacci  Chapel  of  the  church  of  the 
Carmine  in  Florence,  while  they  were  the  wonder  of  his  own 
1  See  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  vol.  i.  p.  522. 


MASACCIO.  19 

time,  have  ever  since  formed  as  marked  an  era  in  the  history 
of  painting  as  Ghiberti's  gates  in  the  history  of  sculpture. 

Before  beginning  upon  this  task,  he  gave,  as  a  sample  of  his 
powers,  the  San  Paolo  in  the  bell-room,  but  this  painting, 
which  Yasari  tells  us  was  so  noble  a  figure  that  it  lacked 
only  the  power  of  speech,  has  since  perished.  It  was  drawn 
from  the  life,  and  was  the  portrait  of  the  Gonf aloniere  Bartolo 
d'  Angiolino  Angiolini.^ 

It  was  one  of  the  first  and  most  successful  examples  of 
Masaccio's  triumph  over  the  difficulty  of  foreshortening  the 
feet. 

While  he  was  engaged  upon  this  first  example,  the  church 
of  the  Carmine  was  consecrated,  and  Masaccio  was  interrupted 
in  his  work  to  commemorate  the  event  in  a  fresco.  Masaccio 
represented  the  procession  in  terra  verde  above  the  door  of 
the  convent,  exactly  as  it  issued  from  the  cloisters  on  that 
occasion.  Among  the  groups  of  citizens  who  followed  in  its 
wake,  poi-traits  are  introduced  of  Brunelleschi,  Donatello, 
Masolino,  Felice  Brancacci^  (the  founder  of  the  chapel),  Gio- 
vanni di  Bicci  de'  Medici,  and  others,  including  the  porter  of 
the  convent  with  the  key  of  the  door  in  his  hand. 

This  work  was  considered  a  feat,  because  of  the  accuracy 
of  the  perspective  of  the  procession,  the  diminishing  propor- 
tions of  the  figures,  and  the  care  with  which  he  represented 
their  different  statures.^ 

After  the  completion  of  this  fresco,  Masaccio  returned  to 
work  at  the  Brancacci  Chapel.     The  chapel  is  in  the  form  of 

1  Bartoli  d' Angiolino  Angiolini — del  quartiere  Santo  Spirito— was  born 
in  1373,  and  held  many  offices  under  the  republic  between  the  years  1406 
and  1432. 

2  The  disputed  point,  as  to  which  of  the  Brancacci  was  the  founder  of 
the  chapel,  has  been  set  at  rest  by  the  discovery  of  the  will  of  Felice 
Brancacci.     See  Vasari,  ed.  1878,  note  to  p.  296. 

3  This  fresco  has  also  perished,  although  the  original  design  is  said  to  be 
still  extant  in  private  hands.  See  Lanzi,  Storia  pittoriea  della  Italia, 
vol.  i.  p.  50. 

c  2 


20 


THE  PRECURSOES  OF  FRA  ANGELICO. 


a  parallelogram,  and  three  out  of  the  four  sides  are  covered 

with  frescoes  divided  into  twelve  compartments,  of   which 

four  are  large  and  oblong,  and 
the  rest  narrow  and  upright. 
The  two  frescoes  immediately 
on  each  side  as  you  enter 
represent — the  one,  Adcmi  and 
Eve  in  Paradise,  the  other,  their 
Expulsion  from  it.  The  rest  of 
the  paintings  represent  scenes 
from  the  Life  of  S.  Peter,  and 
the  two  exceptions  are  said 
to  have  been  chosen  with 
design,  because  of  the  legend 
that  S.  Peter  was  keeper  of 
the  gates  of  Paradise. 

It  is  perhaps  no  wonder  that 
these  frescoes,  forming  so  im- 
portant a  feature  in  the  pro- 
gress of  art,  should  have  been 
the  subject  of  prolonged  and 
eager  discussion,  as  to  the  exact 
share  which  may  be  attributed 
to  each  of  the  painters  who 
were  engaged  upon  them. 

The  learned  commentator  on 
the  latest  edition  of  Yasari 
gives    us    the    result     of    his 

careful  sifting  of   the  question  to  this  effect,  in  assigning 

the  following  to  Masaccio  : — 

(1)  The  Expulsion  from  Paradise. 

(2)  The  Tribute  Money. 

(3)  The  Resuscitation  of  the  King's  Son  (begun  by  Masaccio 
and  finished  by  Filippino  Lippi). 

(i)  S.  Pettr ''inCathedrd." 


The  Expulsion  fbom  Pakadise. 
By  Masaccio. 


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MASACCIO.  21 

(5)  The  Infirm  healed  by  the  Shadow  of  SS.  Peter  cmd  John. 

(6)  S.  Peter  baptizing. 

(7)  aS'.  Peter  distributing  Alms  to  the  Poor.^ 

Among  the  most  notable  of  the  series  illustrating  the  life 
of  S.  Peter  is — 

(1)  The  fresco  representing  S.  Peter  taking  the  Tribute 
Money  out  of  the  Mouth  of  the  Fish.^  A  wonderful  truth- 
fulness is  given  in  the  treatment  of  S.  Peter,  whose  face 
is  dark  from  stooping  over  the  fish.  The  surrounding 
apostles  appear  as  if  alive ;  the  one  on  the  extreme  right 
of  the  central  group  is  known  to  be  the  portrait  of  Ma- 
saccio  himself,  done  from  a  looking-glass.  It  resembles 
in  form  and  feature  the  portrait  of  Masaccio  given  by  Yasari, 
while  the  compact,  well-knit  frame  and  square  head  are 
suggestive  of  the  young  painter  in  all  the  power  and  strength 
he  exhibits  in  his  works.  For  the  first  time  the  effect  of  life 
is  produced  in  the  figures,  which  are  raised  from  the  flat 
surface  by  modelling  the  forms. 

(2)  The  fresco  of  the  Resuscitation  of  the  King's  Son  in 
which  this  art  is  carried  to  a  still  greater  perfection.  The 
subject  of  this  fresco  is  by  some  supposed  to  be  Eutychus,^ 
by  others  the  apocryphal  story  of  the  challenge  of  Simon  the 
Magician  to  the  Apostles  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  to  restore  to  life 
a  youth,  who  had  been  dead  fourteen  years,  the  kinsman  of 
the  Poman  emperor. 

The  boy  is  represented  in  the  picture  kneeling  before  the 
apostles  ;  by  his  side  are  the  skull  and  bones  to  indicate  his 
former  state  of  death.  A  large  crowd  stand  round  beholding 
the  miracle,  and  among  the  figures  are  contemporary  portraits 
of  Guicciardini,  Luigi  Pulci,  Antonio  Pollaiuolo,  and  others. 
The  central  group  was  afterwards  finished  by  Filippino. 

(3)  S.  Peter  baptizing. — ^Among  the  figures  in  this  fresco, 
^  As  to  the  distribution  of  the  remainder  of  the  frescoes,  see  lAves  of 

Masolino  and  Filippino  Lippi. 
2  See  S.  Matthew  xvii.  24—27.  '  See  Acts  xx.  9. 


22  THE  PEECURSORS   OF  FRA  ANGELICO. 

that  of  the  trembling  proselyte,  who  appears  actually  to 
shake  from  cold  as  he  stands  on  the  brink  of  the  water,  has 
obtained  a  world-wide  celebrity.  Lanzi  tells  us  that  it  formed 
an  epoch  in  the  history  of  art,^  and  was  the  centre  of  attrac- 
tion to  all  who  both  at  the  time  and  afterwards  studied  these 
frescoes.  Among  these  we  might  enumerate  Filippino  Lippi, 
who  finished  them,  Yerrocchio,  Ghirlandajo,  Sandro  Botticelli, 
Perugino.  Later  on  Michelangelo  did  not  disdain  to  learn 
there  the  principles  of  the  art  which  he  carried  to  perfection. 
Raphael  borrowed  from  them,  and  indeed  found  little  to  alter 
in  Masaccio's  treatment  of  the  Expulsion  from  Paradise,  when 
he  painted  the  same  subject  in  the  Loggie  at  the  Vatican. 

Besides  the  frescoes  of  the  Brancacci  Chapel,  Masaccio  exe- 
cuted a  work  in  S.  Maria  Novella,  which  was  only  dis- 
covered in  1857,  having  been  hitherto  concealed  by  a  large 
picture  by  Yasari.  This  recent  discovery,  the  undoubted 
work  of  Masaccio,  has,  by  comparing  it  with  the  frescoes  of 
the  Brancacci  Chapel,  helped  to  determine  which  are 
Masaccio's  productions.  In  itself  it  is  a  painting  of  great  in- 
terest, showing  how  far  Masaccio  was  guided  by  the  Giotto  type 
before  he  abandoned  traditionary  art  for  the  study  of  nature. 
It  has  been  truly  said  of  him  that  with  one  hand  he  grasped 
Giotto,  while  the  other  was  stretched  out  to  Eaphael.  An  early 
example  of  his  style  was  the  group  of  S.  Anna  the  Virgin 
and  Infant  Saviour,  originally  painted  for  the  Church  of 
S;  Ambrogio,  and  now  in  the  Accademia  delle  Belle  Arti  in 
Florence.^  There  are  also  two  pictures  by  him  in  the  Uffizi 
Gallery,  one  supposed  to  be  his  own  portrait  (No.  286) ;  the 
other,  not  so  certainly  known  to  be  by  Masaccio,  represents 
a  man  the  size  of  life  (No.  1167). 

Had  Masaccio  lived,  he  might  have  attained  to  still  greater 
heights  of  fame  ;  but  his  death  was  premature  and  sudden — 
some,  indeed,  ascribe  it  to  poison ;  such  was  the  jealousy  of  his 

^  Lanzi,  Storia  Pittorica  della  Italia,  vol.  L  p.  50. 
2  See  Yasari,  ed.  1878-9,  p.  200. 


MASACCIO.  23 

extraordinary  talent.  All  we  know  is,  that  when  the  next 
return  was  issued  by  the  office  of  the  Catasto,  on  Masaccio's  tax 
paper  appeared  the  vague  words,  "  Dicesi  e  morta  in  Roma." 

Masaccio's  method  of  drawing  was,  we  are  told,  excessively 
rapid  ;  he  chiefly  directed  his  attention  to  representing  the 
figures  in  action,  neglecting  the  smaller  details,  which  did  not 
immediately  tend  to  produce  this  effect.  In  his  early  studies 
of  modelling,  he  learnt  from  Ghiberti  and  Donatello,  not 
merely  the  knowledge  of  form,  but  the  effects  of  light  and 
shade,  in  giving  roundness  to  his  figures  ;  to  this  he  added  an 
accuracy  of  drawing,  a  softness  and  harmony  in  colouring  the 
flesh,  which  had  never  been  reached  before.  His  habit  of 
painting  from  life  (and  it  will  be  remembered  how  many 
portraits  he  introduced  into  his  work)  gave  animation  and 
character  to  each  individual  head,  so  that  it  was  said  of  him 
that  he  painted  not  only  the  body  but  the  soul. 

"  Fu  molto  sempliceneir  paneggiare,"  the  Italian  biographer 
tells  us  ;  and  it  is  a  relief  to  turn  from  the  stiff  longitudinal 
folds  of  the  Giotto  school  to  the  grand  and  simple  treatment 
of  drapery  by  Masaccio. 

Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  sums  up  his  description  in  a  few  brief 
words  :  "  He  appeared  to  be  the  first  who  discovered  the  path 
that  leads  to  every  excellence  to  which  the  art  afterwards 
arrived ;  and  may  therefore  be  justly  considered  one  of  the 
great  fathers  of  modern  art."  ^ 

List  op  Paintings  by  Masaccio. 

1.  The  frescoes  in  the  Church  of  S.  Clemente  at  Rome. 

2.  The  frescoes  in  the  Brancacci  Chapel  in  the  Church  of 
the  Carmine  at  Florence,  as  enumerated  on  page  20. 

3.  The  Virgin  and  Child,  in  the  Accademia  delle  Belle  Arti 
(No  36). 

^  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  Discourse  XII. 


24  THE  PRECURSORS   OF  FRA  ANGELICO. 

The  other  works  by  Masaccio,  noticed  by  Vasari,  no  longer 
exist.  ^ 

Christ  casting  out  a  Devil;  once  in  the  house  of  Eidolfo 
Ghirlandajo. 

S.  Ivo  of  Britain  J  once  on  a  pilaster  in  the  Badia,  Florence. 

The  Nativity f  between  SS.  Catherine  and  Julia,  with  Scenes 
from  the  Lives  of  these  Saints  ;  in  the  predella,  formerly  in 
S.  Maria  Maggiore,  Florence. 

The  pictures  in  the  Carmine  at  Pisa. 


Pictures  ascribed  to  Masaccio,  but  not  supposed  to  be 
genuine — 

A  life-size  Virgin  enthroned  with  the  Infant  Saviour ;  in 
the  Chapel  to  the  right  of  the  choir  in  the  Church  of 
S.  Giovanni. 

A  Portrait  of  a  Member  of  the  Pam,ichi  Family ;  exhibited 
under  Masaccio's  name  in  the  Gallery  of  Modena. 

The  Portrait  called  that  of  Masaccio,  by  himself,  in  the 
National  Gallery ;  by  some  assigned  to  Botticelli,  by  others  to 
Filippino. 

To  the  same  class  belong  two  portraits  exhibited  in  the 
Manchester  Exhibition  (Nos.  66  and  67). 

A  head  and  two  profiles  at  the  Oxford  University. 

A  S.  Lawrence  and  an  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  in  the 
"Liverpool  Gallery.  ^ 

1  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  pp.  290-292. 

2  See  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  vol.  i.  pp.  548,  649. 


CHAPTER  III. 


FRA  ANGELICO.     Born  1387.     Died  1455. 


**  Ed  in  quel  mezzo  con  le  penne  sparte 
Vidi  pill  di  mille  angeli  festanti, 
Ciascun  distinto  di  fulgore  e  d'  arte 
Vidi  quivi  a'  lor  giuochi  ed  a'  lor  canti 
Eidere  una  belleza,  che  letizia 
Era  negli  oechi  a  tutti  gli  altri  santi." 

Paradiso,  canto  xxxi.  line  131  e  seg. 

THE  paintings  of  Masaccio  have  always  been  regarded  as 
powerful  illustrations  of  what  is  termed  realistic  art, 
because  they  were  the  first  and  nearly  perfect  results  of  the 
study  of  the  human  form,  foreshortening,  perspective,  and  all 
the  science  of  art,  the  triumph  of  the  great  masters  of  the 
Renaissance. 

Those  of  Fra  Angelico  have  been  chosen,  on  the  other  hand, 
as  the  last  and  best  examples  of  the  opposite  school — the 
school  of  symbolic  religious  art. 

In  his  treatment  of  sacred  subjects — and  no  others  were 
ever  expressed  by  his  pencil — he  exhibits  the  devout  re- 
ligious feeling  which  he  shared  with  Giotto  and  his  pupils, 
and  which  gives  to  the  work  of  these  early  Italian  artists  an 
enduring  charm. 

It  is  this  special  character,  to  use  an  artist's  term,  which 
enables  them  still  to  hold  their  place  in  art,  in  spite  of  their 
deficiencies  in  execution,  nor  can  mere  technical  excellence 


26 


FRA  ANGELICO 


1/ 


ever  make  up  for  its  absence.  With  Era  Angelico  it  was 
the  single  aim  of  his  life  to  give  expression  to  this  feeling  in 
painting. 

He  was  born,  in  1387,  at  Yicchio,  one  of  the  fortified 
villages  which  crowned  the  summit  of  the  Apennines,  in  the 
province  of  Mugello.  Yicchio  was  but  little  removed  from 
Yespignano,  the  birth-place  of  Giotto  rather  more  than  a 
century  before. 

We  do  not  know  much  of  his  early  years,  except  that  his 
father's  Christian  name  was  Pietro  (the  surname  remains  un- 
known) ;  that  he  was  called  Guido,  or  Guidolino,  and  that  he 
had  a  brother  two  years  younger  than  himself,  afterwards 
called  Fra  Benedetto. 

It  is  supposed  that  Fra  Angelico  must  have  made  his  first 
essay  in  art,  in  miniature  painting  and  illumination,  with 
which  it  was  the  custom  among  the  different  orders  to 
embellish  their  monastic  missals. 

Some  of  the  biographers  afiirm  that  Gherardo  Stamina,  the 
most  brilliant  colourist  of  the  age,  was  his  master ;  but  this 
assertion  is  founded,  not  so  much  on  fact,  as  upon  a 
similarity  of  style  between  the  two  painters ;  others,  on  the 
contrary,  declare  that  he  was  a  pupil  of  Giottino. 

We  only  know  that  at  the  age  of  twenty  his  gift  for  paint- 
ing was  fully  recognised,  and  that  he  might  easily  have 
earned  from  it,  as  a  layman,  a  competent  livelihood.^ 

But  he  preferred  to  devote  his  life  to  the  immediate  service 
of  God,  and,  in  the  prime  of  his  youth  and  strength,  he  joined 
the  Dominican  Order.  The  chronicle  of  S.  Domenico  of  Fiesole 
records  the  event  in  these  terms  : — 

"  1407.  Brother  Joannes  Petri  de  Mugello  of  Yicchio,  who 
excelled  as  a  painter,  and  adorned  many  tables  and  walls  in 
divers  places,  accepts  the  habit  of  a  clerk  in  this  convent 
....  and  in  the  following  year  professed." 

1  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  vol  ii.  p.  505. 


AT  FOLIGNO  AND   CORTONA.  .27 

He  entered  upon  this  new  life  under  the  name  of  Fra 
Giovanni ;  that  of  Beato  or  Angelico  was  afterwards  conferred 
upon  him  by  universal  consent  on  account  of  his  blameless 
life  and  the  inspired  beauty  of  his  paintings. 

The  Order  of  S.  Dominic  had  already  contributed  some  of 
the  great  art  treasures  of  the  world.  In  architecture  they 
gave  to  Florence  the  Church  of  S.  Maria  Novella,  "sposa," 
as  it  was  fondly  called  by  Michelangelo  in  the  fervour  of  his 
admiration.  Not  only  was  this  church  planned  by  the  Domi- 
nican architects,  Fra  Sisto  and  Fra  Ristoro,  but  their  designs 
were  executed  by  carpenters  and  masons  also  furnished  by 
the  convent.  In  sculpture,  a  Dominican,  Fra  Guglielmo 
Agnelli,  had  been  employed  by  Niccol^  Pisano  to  assist  in 
the  basreliefs  of  the  famous  tomb  of  S.  Dominic.  It  re- 
mained for  Fra  Angelico — for  by  that  name  he  is  best  known 
to  the  world — to  prove  by  his  numerous  and  beautiful  paint- 
ings that  his  order  might  claim  another  distinction  from  that 
branch  of  the  art.  ^ , 

From  the  time  that  he  entered  the  Order  of  S.  Dominic  | 
the  life  of  Fra  Angelico  may  be  divided  into  several  very  , 
distinct  periods  : 

(1)  His  residence  at  Foligno  and  Cortona.  i 

(2)  His  return  to  Fiesole  ;  and  his  work  at  Florence.  ! 

(3)  His  work  at  Rome  in  the  Vatican  Chapel  under  Pope  \ 
Nicholas  Y. 


His  Residence  at  Foligno  and  Cortona. 

In  1409,  the  year  after  Fra  Angelico  and  his  brother  had 
entered  the  convent  at  Fiesole,  the  affairs  of  the  Church, 
already  sufficiently  troubled  by  two  rival  pontiffs,  were 
still  further  complicated  by  the  election  of  a  third,  Alex- 
ander v.,  by  the  Council  of  Pisa.  The  Archbishop  of  Florence 
declared  for  the  new  pope  and  persecuted  the  brotherhood  of 


^'28  FRA  ANGELICO 

C  ,  ^ 

^  I  S.  Dominic  for  maintaining  their  allegiance  to  Gregory  XII., 
at  Fiesole,  till  they  were  forced  to  abandon  their  convent 
and  take  refuge  at  Foligno,  in  Umbria.^ 

Fra  Angelico  was^thus  by  an  accident  removed  from  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Florentine  school  just  as  it  was  entering  upon 
a  new  phase  of  development,  in  which  devotion  and  religious 
feeling  were  no  longer  to  be  the  first  objects,  but  were  to  be 
supplanted  by  the  eager  desire  for  perfection  of  form. 
i^      This  accidental  change  of  abode  no  doubt  preserved  for  him, 
!  intact,  the  devotional  feeling  of  his  pictures ;  more  especially  as 
this  must  have  been  still  further  deepened  and  strengthened 
by  the  influence  of  the  Umbria^  school,  as  exemplified  in  the 
;  works  of  Giotto  and  his  pupils,  which  surrounded  him  when 
^  at  Foligno.  /    If  the  tomb  of  S.  Dominic,  by  Niccolb  Pisano, 
had  already  exercised  its  influence  upon  Florentine  aii:,  the 
resting-place  of  S.  Francis  at  Assisi,  when  adorned  by  Giotto, 
was  another  witness  to  that  spirit  of  wisdom  and  love  com- 
bined which  should  guide  the  treatment  of  sacred  subjects. 
It  was  as  if  the  two  great  saints — of  whom 

"  L'  un  fu  tutto  serafico  in  ardore, 
L'  altro  per  sapienza  in  terra  fiie 
Di  cherubica  luce  uno  splendore." 

Par.  xi.  37-40— 

had  influence  even  from  their  graves  to  inspire  the  hand  of 
the  artist. 

The  lessons  of  the  Umbrian  school  were  supplemented  by 
the  study  of  the  old  paintings  of  Siena,  whence  Fra  Angelico 
may  have  acquired  that  pure  and  perfect  type  which  is  never 
absent  from  his  Madonnas.  Some  technical  peculiarities  in 
colouring  would  suggest  the  same  influence.^! 
^  ^he  brotherhood  remained  at  Foligno  till  1413,  when, 
driven  thence  by  the  plague,  they  removed  to  the  convent 
of  Cortona. 

^  Marchess,  vol.  i.  doc.  v.  p.  397. 


AT  CORTONA.  29 

There  appear  to  be  no  works  extant  of  Fra  Angelico 
bearing  the  exact  date  of  his  residence  at  Foligno,  but  it  is 
probable  that  the  picture  executed  in  the  Chapel  of  S.  Niccole 
dei  Guidalotti  for  the  Church  of  S.  Domenico  at  Perugia 
belongs  to  this  period.  Originally  oblong,  divided  into  three 
compartments,  in  the  form  of  a  triptych  with  a  gradino,  it 
represents  on  a  gold  ground  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  Child;  on 
either  side  of  the  throne  are  angels  carrying  baskets  of 
flowers.  In  the  two  compartments  which  serve  as  shutters 
for  this  picture  the  artist  has  painted  S.  John  the  Baptist,  S. 
Catherine^  S.  Dominic,  and  S.  Nicholas.  The  gradino  is  also 
divided  into  three  compartments,  representing  the  Legend  of 
S.  Nicholas} 

Although  Fra  Angelico,  unlike  most  painters,  scarcely 
changed  his  manner  all  through  his  career,  this  pictureiis 
placed  in  the  category  of  his  earlier  works,  because,  in  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  figures  and  in  the  treatment  of  the  drapery, 
it  shows  the  unmistakable  influence  of  the  specimens  of 
Giotto's  school,  with  which  he  was  at  that  time  immediately 
surrounded.  The  same  manner  prevails  in  his  paintings  at 
Cortona,  which  are  very  numerous. 

In  the  interior  of  the  Church  of  S.  Domenico,  on  the  right 
of  the  high  altar,  is  a  picture  representing  the  Virgin  En- 
throned, holding  the  Infant  Saviour  on  her  knee,  between 
SS.  John  the  Baptist  and  the  Evangelist  on  the  right,  and 
SS.  Mary  Magdalene  and  Mark  on  the  left. 

The  representation  of  the  Virgin  is  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful ever  executed  by  Fra  Angelico.  The  Infant  Saviour, 
standing  on  her  knees,  is  covered  in  the  lower  part  with  a  red 
drapery,  and  holds  a  rose  in  His  hand ;  His  face  turned 
towards  His  Mother  with  a  beautiful  smile.  The  gradino,  or 
pedestal,  of  this  picture,  ornamented  with  scenes  from  the 

1  The  first  two  of  these  are  at  Rome,  in  the  Museum  of  the  Vatican ; 
the  third  remains  at  Perugia,  in  the  sacristy  of  the  Convent  of  S. 
Domenico.    Marchese,  vol.  i.  note  to  p.  215. 


30  FRA   ANGELICO. 

life  of  S.  Dominic,^  has  been  removed  to  the  Chiesa  del  Gesii, 
where  it  now  is. 

The  same  church  contains  another  altar-piece  represent- 
^  ing  the  Annunciation.  The  Virgin  is  seated  on  a  throne,  her 
arms  crossed  on  her  breast ;  she  bends  her  head  to  receive  the 
tidings  brought  by  the  Angel  Gabriel  with  golden  hair  and 
wings  dazzling  in  their  gold  and  varied  colours.  Both  texts, 
the  words  of  the  angel  and  the  Virgin's  answer,  are  inscribed 
on  the  field  of  the  picture,  a  remnant  of  the  customs  of  the 
earlier  Italian  school.^ 

The  subject  of  the  Annunciation  was  always  a  favourite 
theme  with  Fra  Angelico.     We  find  it  treated  again  in  the 
churches  of  S.  Maria  Novella,  and  in  the  convent  of  S.  Marco 
l^t  Florence.     That  of  S.  Marco  is  considered  the  noblest,  and 
'  may  be  taken  as  the  type  of  all  others.     In  the  treatment  of 
both  figures  Fra  Angelico  surpassed  himself.  The  Virgin,  re- 
presenting the  ideal  of  all  that  is  pure  and  holy,  is  seated 
with  the  arms  crossed  on  the  breast,  the  garments,  the  con- 
ventional red  with  the  blue  mantle ;    her  countenance  ex- 
-  pressive   of   holy   repose;    the   fair   hair   falls  loose  on   the 
shoulders.     The  figure  of  the  angel  is  of  marvellous  beauty. 
Bending  on  one  linee  before  her,  the  arms  crossed,  he  seems 
to  await  with  a  smile   of  ineffable  joy  the  reception  of  his 
/  tidings.     From  Dante,  Fra  AngeHco  must  have  borrowed  the 

1  In  six  compartments: — 1.  In  two  parts,  the  Dream  of  Pope  Inno- 
cent III.,  who  sees  in  his  sleep  S.  Dominic  supporting  the  tottering  church. 
The  Embrace  of  SS.  Dominic  and  Francis,  symbolic  of  the  conquest  of  the 
world  by  science  and  love.  2.  S.  Dominic  in  ecstasy  before  the  Altar — 
the  Apostles  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  appear  to  him.  3.  Dispute  of  S.  Dominic 
vnth  the  Albigenses.  4.  T\iQ  Holy  Patriarch  raises  to  life  the  young  Napoleon, 
nephew  of  Cardinal  Stefano  di  Fossa-Nova.  5.  S.  Dominic  and  his  Brothers 
receive  from  the  Angels  a  Miraculom  Repast  of  Bread,  6.  The  Death  of 
S.  Dominic. 

^  There  are  very  few  of  the  pictures  of  Fra  Angelico  which  have  not 
some  text  or  devout  aspiration  inscribed,  either  in  the  glories  of  the  saints 
or  in  the  folds  of  the  garments. 


-  <w 


painted  by  Fra  Angelica  for  the  Corporation  of  the  Linaiuo     in  143^3  >       ^7 


AN  ANGEL.      IN   THE  UFFIZT,  FLORENCE. 
One  of  the  twelve  which  adorn  the  "  Madonna  and  Sainfs^^         A        /^/r 


^ 


O^ . 


HIS  EEPEESENTATION  OF  ANGELS.  31 

idea  of  rapt  joy  which  appears  in  his  face,  and  to  Dante  alone 
can  we  leave  the  description — 

"  Qual  e  queir  Angel,  che  con  tanto  gioco 
Guarda  negli  occhi  la  nostra  Regina 
Innamorato  si  che  par  di  fuoco. 

*  *  *  * 

Baldezza  e  leggiadria 
Quanta  esser  puote  in  Angelo  ed  in  alma 
Tutto  e  in  lui,  e  si  volem  che  sia 
Perch^  egli  h  quegli  che  porto  la  palma 
Giuso  a  Maria,  Quando  il  Figluol  di  Die 
Carcar  si  voile  della  nostra  salma." 

Par.  xxxii.  110. 

Any  one  acquainted  with  Fra  Angelico's  paintings  would 
admit  that  his  genius  most  clearly  shows  itself  in  his  painting  \ 
of  angels.  The  difficulty  of  clothing  the  blessed  spirits  with  a 
body  is  manifest,  and,  perhaps,  none  of  the  Christian  subjects 
have  been  more  unworthily  profaned  by  the  Renaissance. 
The  old  school  had  been  wont  to  paint  the  angels  as  they  are 
described  to  us  in  the  Bible.  Sometimes  they  are  represented 
as  the  Cherubim  of  the  prophets,  as  we  read  in  Isaiah : — 

**  Each  one  had  six  wings  ; 
"With  twain  he  covered  his  face, 
"With  twain  he  covered  his  feet, 
"With  twain  he  did  fly."— vi.2. 

In    other   places    we  read    of   the  angels  who  appeared  to 
Abraham,   Jacob,   and   Tobias   clad  in  the  shape  of  youth. 
This  type  was  always  adopted  by  the  school  of  Giotto,  and, 
in  spite  of  the  long  flowing  robe,  there  was  nothing  feminine   \ 
in  their  character.  : 

Fra  Angelico  was  a  true  pupil  of  the  school  in  this  respect,  1 
and  if  he  sometimes  made  the  angels  younger  in  order  to  • 
endow  them  with  the  freshness  of  the  prime  of  youth,  he 
never  represented  them  as  infants  (like  the  school  of  Perugino),    1 
being  of  opinion  that  the  age  of  childhood  was  not  adapted  J 


32  FRA  ANGEUCO. 

to  express  the  zeal  and  intelligence  which  should  belong  to 
the  messengers  and  ministers  of  the  Most  High. 

The  fresco  executed  by  Fra  Angelico  in  the  fa9ade  of  the 
Church  of  S.  Domenico  above  the  door  does  not  belong  to  this 
period,  but  was  probably  painted  later  in  life,  on  his  way  to 
Rome.^  It  represented  the  Madonna  with  the  Child  in  her 
arms,  holding  a  globe,  SS.  Dominic  and  Peter  Martyr  in 
adoration.  The  four  Evangelists  adorn  the  arch.  These  are 
in  the  best  preservation,  having  been  sheltered  from  the  sun 
and  rains  of  400  years,  which  have  damaged  other  parts  of 
the  fresco,  although  a  certain  brilliancy  of  colour  and  sweetness 
of  touch  still  witnessed  to  the  work  of  Fra  Angelico  till  they 
perished  when  the  convent  was  destroyed  by  the  French. 

-^  While  Fra  Angelico  was  thus  busily  engaged  in  decorating 
the  church  at  Cortona,  the  head  of  his  order,  Giovanni 
Dominici,  profiting  by  the  death  of  the  anti-pope,  Alexander 
Y.,  obtained  the  sanction  of  Pope  Gregory  XII.  to  return  to 
Fiesole.  The  brotherhood  had,  however,  to  re-purchase  from 
the  Bishop  of  Fiesole  their  right  to  inhabit  the  convent, 
forfeited,  according  to  the  foundation  deed,  by  an  absence  of 

I  two  months,  and  their  exile  had  extended  over  nine  years. 

^-^The  bishop  demanded  an  ecclesiastical  vestment  worth  a 
hundred  ducats,  and  then  gave  his  consent  to  their  return. 
The  brotherhood  were  enabled  to  pay  this  considerable  fee 
out  of  the  paternal  inheritance  of  S.  Antoninus,  one  of  the 
brothers,  which  fell  to  him  at  that  time.  Their  funds  were 
still  further  augmented  by  a  legacy  of  six  thousand  florins 
bequeathed  to  them  by  a  rich  Florentine  citizen. 

This  last  increase  of  wealth  was  spent  in  enlarging  the 
convent,  so  that  Fra  Angelico  found  an  ample  field  for 
the  exercise  of  talent  now  recognised  by  all  his  brethren. 
Some  of  his  choicest  works  were  executed  in  Fiesole.  It 
seemed  as  if — turning  away  from  the  sad  realities  of  life, 
ever  before  him  in  the  city  which  lay  at  his  feet,  divided  by 
^  Marchese,  vol.  i.  p.  219. 


FRA  ANGELICO.  33 

faction,  filled  with  evil  customs  and  pagan  doctrines — he  took 
refuge  in  an  ideal  world,  and  created  out  of  his  own  imagi- 
nation the  saints  who  were  to  people-  it,  in  his  numerous 
paintings.  During  the  eighteen  years  he  was  at  Fiesole,  he 
worked  incessantly.  For  the  convent  he  executed  two  paint- 
ings in  fresco,  one  in  the  refectory ;  the  other — a  CrucifixiorO- 
• — in  the  chapter-room.     These  are  still  extant. 

The  three  pictures  which  he  painted  for  the  Conventual 
Church  were  an  altar-piece,  which — originally  a  fine  painting 
— ^has  been  so  badly  restored  by  Francesco  Mariani  that  but 
little  remains  of  the  original  colour  :  an  Annunciation,  and 
the  Coronation  of  tJie  Virgin,  now  in  the  Louvre,  and  which 
we  select  for  description  as  the  best  example  of  his  style  at 
the  period.^ 

"It  represents  a  throne  under  a  Gothic  canopy,  to  which 
there  is  an  ascent  by  nine  steps.  The  Yirgin  kneels  on  the  top- 
most step,  clothed  in  a  red  tunic  with  a  blue  robe  thrown  over 
it ;  a  royal  mantle  with  a  rich  border  falls  from  it.  The 
features  are  delicate,  the  expression  full  of  humility  and 
adoration. 

"  The  Saviour  seated  on  the  throne  bends  forward  and  is  in 
the  act  of  placing  the  crown  on  her  head.  On  each  side  are 
twelve  angels  playing  on  various  musical  instruments ;  on  the 
lower  grade  again  on  either  side  are  forty  personages  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament.  Several  saints  are  kneeling  before 
the  throne — S.  Catherine  with  her  wheel,  S.  Agnes  with  her 
lamb,  S.  Cecilia  crowned  with  flowers. 

"  A  row  of  seven  small  pictures  form  the  predella ;  beneath 

1  This  last  has  been  removed  since  September  1879.  An  eye-witness 
describes  the  process  of  renzoval  thus  : — "  The  brick  wall  was  cut  with  a 
saw  all  round  the  picture,  the  wall  having  been  previously  lined  with  a 
wooden  support  and  framework ;  it  was  then  lowered  gi-adually  and 
removed."     It  is  now  in  the  Louvre. 

*  It  was  purchased  by  the  French  Government  in  1812,  and  is  now  in 
the  long  gallery  of  the  Louvre. 

PF  A  D 


34  FRA  ANGELICO. 

the  principal  picture  are  represented  various  incidents  in  the 
life  of  S.  Dominic.  The  whole  is  about  7g  feet  high  by 
6  feet  in  width.  It  is  painted  in  distemper,  the  glories  round 
the  head  are  in  gold,  the  colours  are  the  most  delicate  and 
vivid  imaginable,  and  the  ample  draperies  have  the  long  folds, 
which  recall  the  school  of  Giotto ;  the  gaiety  and  harmony 
of  the  tints,  the  expression  of  the  various  heads,  the  divine 
rapture  of  the  angels,  with  their  air  of  immortal  youth,  the 
devout  reverence  of  the  other  personages,  the  unspeakable 
serenity  and  beauty  of  the  whole  composition  render  this 
picture  worthy  of  the  celebrity  it  has  enjoyed  for  more  than 
four  centuries."  ^ 

Yasari  praises  this  picture  as  an  example  not  only  of  the 
high  quality  of  Fra  Angelico's  mechanical  power,  but  also  of 
the  profound  intelligence  which  guided  him  in  the  composi- 
tion and  the  arrangement  of  the  figures. 

Besides  these  he  painted  many  pictures  for  the  other 
churches  in  Fiesole,  and  sent  many  to  Florence.  Several  of 
these  have  now  found  their  way  into  the  Accademia  delle  Belle 
Arti. 

Among  them  is  the  Life  of  Christ  in  thirty-five  small 
pictures.  This  series  of  paintings  has  always  been  reckoned 
among  the  best  of  his  small  panel  pictures.  They  once 
formed  the  panels  of  a  press  intended  for  the  treasures  of  the 
chapel  of  the  S.  Annunziata  at  Florence.  To  those  who  are  at 
pains  to  examine  them  they  will  show  that  Fra  Angelico  was 
a  theologian  of  no  mean  capacity,  and  perhaps  his  superi- 
ority in  this  respect  to  the  artists  who  preceded  him  may 
have  been  one  cause  of  his  successful  treatment  of  sacred 
subjects.  Nowhere  do  such  proofs  appear  of  this  as  in  these 
paintings  of  the  Life  of  our  Lord. 

His  mind  is  imbued  with  the  type  and  prophecies  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  their  fulfilment  in  every  line  of  the  New 
Testament. 

1  Mrs.  Jameson's  Early  Italian  Painters,  p.  76. 


FRA  ANGELICO.  35 

We  find  an  illustration  of  this  in  the  double  texts  affixed 
to  each  picture.  He  was  also  conversant  with  the  commen- 
taries of  the  Fathers  upon  them,  and  with  all  the  sciences  of 
the  Middle  Ages. 

It  would  take  pages  to  describe  the  details  and  execution 
of  these  pictures,  the  thought  and  knowledge  which  suggested 
the  ideas,  the  pains  and  care  spent  in  expressing  them.  The 
Life  of  our  Lord  was  closed  by  two  compositions,  the  sum  and 
conclusion  of  that  Life.  The  Law  of  Love,  the  gift  of  the 
Gospel  to  the  world,  and  the  Last  Judgment.  Again  we 
find  the  remembrance  of  Old  and  New  Testament,  in  the 
double  texts ;  the  Prophets  of  the  Old  and  the  Apostles  of 
the  New  Testament,  standing  on  either  side  of  the  Cross  in  the 
centre  of  the  picture,  repeat  the  twelve  articles  inscribed  on 
the  banner,  and  each  in  turn  presents  his  scroll  with  the 
text  and  answering  text.  The  same  mystical  treatment  is 
carried  throughout  the  work. 

The  Last  Judgment  was  a  very  favourite  subject  with 
mediaeval  artists.  Sculptors  would  often  place  it  on  the  doors 
of  cathedrals  as  the  entrance  to  Heaven. 

The  school  of  Giotto  was  well  calculated  to  render  aptly  a 
subject  whose  mysteries  are  foreshadowed  in  the  Divina  Corn- 
media.  Orcagna  had  already  dealt  with  it  in  the  church 
of  S.  Maria  Novella  and  in  the  Campo  Santo.  Fra 
Angelico  was  not  unlike  the  earlier  Florentine  in  his  method, 
and  grave,  elegant  style ;  only  his  greater  genius  developed 
and  idealised  fiu*ther  the  forms  and  types  which  Orcagna 
had  employed. 

He  painted  the  subject  five  times  :  the  oldest  is  the  one 
to  which  we  have  just  alluded ;  it  is  inferior  to  the  later  ones 
but  still  full  of  beauty.  Few  could  rival  Fra  Angelico  in  the 
gravity  of  his  attitudes,  the  truthfulness  of  his  expression, 
and  religious  character  of  his  work. 

Another  Last  Judgment,  that  in  the  Accademia  at  Florence, 
is  more  complete.      Montalembert  has  described  it  in  most 

D  2 


36  TEA.  ANGELICO. 

beautiful  language,^  which  we  will  not  mar  by  curtailing ; 
we  cannot  reproduce  it  at  length. 

Another  Last  Judgment  formed  part  of  the  Gallery  of 
Cardinal  Fesch,  and  is  now  in  that  of  Earl  Dudley  at  Dudley 
House,  the  composition  the  same,  but  the  execution  superior. 

The  fourth  exists  in  the  Corsini  Gallery  at  Rome.  It 
is  not  so  extensive  a  composition,  and  is  more  like  a 
miniature. 

A  fifth  is  in  the  Museum  at  Berlin,  but  it  is  a  repetition  or 
copy  of  the  one  at  Florence. 

The  original  design  in  pen  and  ink  of  another  Last  Judg- 
ment is  preserved  in  the  Gallery  of  the  Uffizi,  among  the 
collections  of  old  masters  made  by  Andrea  Tafi  in  the  thir- 
teenth century.  There  is  also  a  study  for  the  same  subject  in 
M.  de  Reiset's  collection  at  Paris,  executed  in  bistre.  It 
represents  Christ  as  Judge,  and  the  three  angels  accompany- 
ing him  recall  the  picture  in  the  Corsini  Gallery. 

"  At  the  top,  is  a  hand  drawn  from  life,  and  given  with  the 
precision  and  liveliness  admired  in  the  hands  of  Holbein's 
portraits.  On  the  reverse  of  the  sheet,  on  a  yellow  ground, 
is  a  fine  head  of  a  '  religious '  seen  in  front,  half  in  the  light 
and  half  in  the  shade  ;  and  this  portrait  presents  a  surprising 
character  of  truth.  The  smallest  details  are  represented 
in  it  with  the  fidelity  of  daguerreotype  3  a  little  swelling 
over  the  left  eye  is  given  carefully.  A  painter  of  the 
Renaissance  could  not  have  drawn  it  with  greater  breadth 
and  skill."2 

The  same  collection  contains  a  study  probably  executed  in 
Fra  Angelico's  youth  when  in  Umbria — painted  on  coloured 
paper  set  off  in  white,  representing  a  S.  Francis  in  glory. 
Besides  these  there  are  studies  for  his  latest  works — the  Evan- 
gelists SS.  Matthew  and  Mark — painted  on  the  arch  of  the 
chapel  of  the  Yatican.     The  former,  washed  and  set  off  in 

1  Du  Vandalisme  et  du  Catholicisme,  p.  79. 

2  See  Cartier,  Life  of  Fra  Jngelico,  English  edition,  1865,  p.  63. 


FRA  ANGELICO.  37 

white  and  green  ground,  holds  with  both  hands  a  book  opened 
on  his  right  knee ;  the  latter  has  a  pen  in  his  right  hand  and 
a  closed  book  in  the  left.  These  last  three  studies  are  very 
beautifully  finished. 

To  return  to  the  Gallery  of  Fine  Arts  at  Florence,  which 
contains  many  other  of  Fra  Angelico's  pictures,  we  find 
among  the  most  remarkable  : — 

(1)  The  Descent  from  the  Cross.  It  was  in  the  Church  of 
Santa  Trinita,  and  is  executed  with  so  much  care  that  it  may 
be  reckoned  among  the  best  works  he  ever  did.  It  is  framed, 
like  a  jewel  in  its  setting,  with  little  pictures,  twenty  in 
number.  As  a  sequel  to  this  "  Descent  from  the  Cross  "  and 
apparently  of  the  same  period,  we  find — 

(2)  The  Entombment.  Painted  for  the  Confraternity  of 
S.  Croce  del  Tempio  :  also  a  picture  in  two  parts,  below — 

(3)  The  Adoration  of  the  Magi;  above,  A  Pieta.  The 
fragments  of  the  Legend  of  SS.  Cosmo  and  Damian,  which  were 
originally  painted  for  the  Pharmacy  of  S.  Marco,  and  which 
are  now  separated  and  are  hung  in  the  Pinacoteca  at  Munich. 

In  the  Uffizi  there  are  also  several  panel  pictures  by 
Angelico,  and  also  a  magnificent  altar-piece,  painted  for  the 
Guild  ^  of  Flax-workers,  one  of  the  well-known  guilds  of  the 
Italian  Republic,  about  1433. 

This  picture  was  to  be  painted,  according  to  the  contract, 
within  and  without,  alluding  to  the  doors  of  the  triptych,  with 
brilliant  and  varied  colours,  and  gold  and  silver  of  the  purest 
and  finest  that  could  be  procured,  with  the  artist's  best  work- 
manship, for  which  he  is  to  receive  one  hundred  and  ninety  golden 
florins,  and  more  or  less  according  as  the  painter  should  think 
fit,  and  according  to  the  number  of  the  figures.  And  here 
we  must  notice  that  Fra  Angelico  never  painted  for  money, 

*  The  original  document  of  this  commission  being  still  preserved,  bears 
witness  to  the  name  of  Guido  having  been  the  ^'primitiva  noma"  of  Fra 
Angelico  before  he  entered  the  Dominican  Order.  Marchese,  vol.  i. 
p.  225. 


88  FRA  ANGELICO 

but  the  sums  for  whicli  his  paintings  were  purchased  became 
a  considerable  source  of  income  to  his  convent. 

The  painter  faithfully  fulfilled  his  contract.  The  picture, 
which  is  constantly  copied  by  artists  to  this  day,  repre- 
sents the  Madonna  (life-size)  enthroned,  holding  the  Infant 
Jesus,  with  twelve  angels  in  the  cornice  of  such  great  beauty, 
/that,  according  to  Yasari,  they  seemed  to  have  been  rained 
down  from  heaven  (*^  piovuii  dal  cielo").\ 

We  will  only  mention  one  other  picture,  an  altar-piece 
for  the  church  of  S.  Domenico  at  Fiesole,  of  which  we 
now  possess  the  predella^  in  our  National  Gallery^  (No.  663). 
The  Saviour  "  with  the  Banner  of  the  Resurrection  in  his 
left  hand,  in  the  midst  of  a  choir  of  Angels,  some  blowing 
trumpets,  others  playing  various  musical  instruments.  On 
the  two  sides  are  kneeling  a  great  crowd  of  the  Blessed 
....  Altogether  two  hundred  and  thirty- six  figures  or 
portions  of  figures;  many  with  their  names  attached." 


Kesidence  at  Florence. 

We  now  reach  the  next  period  of  Angelico's  life,  that  of 
his  residence  in  Florence,  the  time  when  he  was  brought  face 
to  face  with  the  Renaissance. 

Brunelleschi  was  erecting  the  Cupola  at  S.  Maria  dei  Fiori — 
Ghiberti  was  finishing  the  gates  of  the  Baptistery — Masaccio 
had  indeed  disappeared  from  Florence,  but  his  frescoes  were 
scarcely  dry  upon  the  walls  of  the  Brancacci  Chapel.  Donatello 
was  the  great  sculptor  of   the  day.^     Fra  Angelico  profited 

^  Predella  or  Gradino,  a  step  which  raised  the  picture  quite  above  the 
foot  of  the  candlesticks  on  the  altar,  and  was  ornamented  with  pious  sub- 
jects, calculated  to  excite  the  devotion  of  the  priest. 

2  We  possess  also  one  other  specimen  of  Fra  Angelico's  work  in  the 
great  National  Collection,  purchased  in  1857 — The  Wise  Men's  Ofering 
(No-  582) — once  in  the  collection  of  Professor  Rosini,  at  Pisa. 

^  Crowe  and  Cav^caselle,  vol.  i.  p.  575. 


AT  SAN  IVIARCO.  .     39 

by   their  fellowship;   in   his   architectural   backgrounds   he 
showed  he  understood  and  appreciated  Brunelleschi,  and  his 
figures  improved  after  his  study  of  those   in  the  Brancacci 
Chapel,  while  they  lost  none  of  their  religious  and  devout^ 
character. 

The  brotherhood  were  removed  from  their  convent  at 
Fiesole  to  that  of  S.  Marco,  by  the  powerful  influence  of 
Cosimo  de'  Medici. 

While  at  his  country  house  at  Fiesole  this  prince  and 
patron  of  the  arts  had  already  been  the  benefactor  of  the 
Fiesole  convent.  He  had  ordered  many  pictures  from  Fra 
Angelico,  and  now  on  his  return  from  exile  to  Florence  he 
determined  that  the  brotherhood  should  accompany  him  there. 
Through  his  influence  with  the  Pope  he  caused  the  monks  of 
the  order  of  S.  Sylvester,  who  had  long  scandalised  Florence 
by  their  evil  lives,  to  be  ejected  from  their  convent  of 
S.  Marco,  which  was  then  given  to  the  Dominicans  of  Fiesole. 
S.  Marco  was  at  that  time  a  miserable  half -ruined  building ; 
Cosimo  caused  it  to  be  rebuilt  by  the  famous  architect 
Michelozzo  Michelozzi.  It  was  begun  in  1437,  and  after  six 
years'  labour  it  was  completed,  at  the  cost  of  36,000  florins. 
The  restorations  of  the  church  were  finished  in  1441,  and  it 
was  consecrated  in  that  year  by  Pope  Eugenius  TV.  The 
princely  Cosimo  further  endowed  it  with  a  library,  purchasing 
for  that  purpose  the  world-famed  collection  of  MSS.  belonging 
to  Niccolo  Niccoli,  and  thus  organised  the  first  public  library 
in  Italy.  He  also  presented  the  choir-books,  at  a  cost  of 
1,500  ducats,  intrusting  their  illumination  to  Fra  Benedetto, 
the  brother  of  Fra  Angelico.  Meanwhile  Fra  Angelico  him- 
self was  already  at  work  upon  the  altar-piece  for  the  choir, 
which  represented  the  Virgin  enthroned  with  the  Infant 
SavioWj  adorned  by  the  kneeling  figures  of  SS.  Cosmo  and 
Damian ;  these  two  saints  he  chose  for  representation  as  a 
tribute  of  gratitude  to  the  patron  who  had  been  so  lavishing 
in  his  gifts. 


(V^P' 


40  FRA  ANGELTCO 

The  pedestal  of  the  altar-piece  representing  the  lives  of 
these  two  saints  has  long  been  parted  from  the  altar-piece, 
now  in  the  Accademia ;  and  has  been  scattered  over  various 
galleries.  Many  duplicates  also  exist  of  the  same  subject, 
as  it  was  frequently  treated  by  Fra  Angelico. 

As  soon  as  the  altar-piece  was  completed,  Fra  Angelico 
began  his  celebrated  frescoes,  upon  which  so  much  of  his 
fame  rests.  They  were  painted  upon  the  walls  of  the  first 
cloister  called  "primo  di  S.  Antonino,"  and  the  cells  con- 
nected with  it.  The  first  painting  was  that  of  Christ  upon 
the  Cross.  It  occupies  the  principal  wall  of  this  first  cloister, 
at  the  end  of  the  side  running  along  the  church,  and  facing 
the  entrance  door. 

In  this  figure  of  our  Saviour,  Fra  Angelico  gave  the  most 

perfect  expression  to  the  great  Ideal  which  he  had  before 

i    him.     "We  believe  that  Fra  Angelico  only  attained  to  the 

\    representation  of  this  supreme  type  of  Christian  art  by  the 

careful   study   of   tradition.^     He   was   guided  by  the  light 

1  of   those   who  went   before   him,  whilst   increasing   it,  and 

l^ndowing  it   with   his   own   colouring.      By  examining   his 

works,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  he  has  consulted  the  two  great 

schools,  Greek  and  Latin,  as  to  his  treatment  of  this  subject. 

His  types  of  our  Saviour  show  a  remarkable  difference ;  his 

heart  seems  never  to  have  been  satisfied  in  its-  passionate 

yearning  for  the  perfection  of  face  and  form  which  belonged 

to  One  who  was  "  fairer  than  the  children  of  men." 

Sometimes  he  follows  the  type  of  Giotto,  and  gives  our 
Saviour  the  power  and  strength  of  full  manhood  ;  sometimes, 
on  the  contrary,  his  types  are  extremely  youthful,  and  his 
representation  is  that  of  the  Tender  Lamb  who  redeemed 
the  world. 

In  the  picture  we  are  now  considering,  the  representation 
of  Christ  is   inferior  to  that  of    Giotto  in  force,  but  is  so 

^  See  Didron,  Histoire  de  Dieu,  p.  229.  Quoted  in  Kugler's  Handbook 
of  Painting,  vol.  i.  p.  9.     See  also  Cartier's  Life  of  Fra  Angelico,  p.  84. 


AT  SAN  MARCO.  .41 

sublime  in  its  resignation,  as  to  suggest  the  words  of  our 
first  Good  Friday  Collect,  that  He  was  indeed  "  contented  to 
suffer  death  upon  the  Cross."  Perhaps,  also,  Dante's  descrip- 
tion of  the  Veronica  at  Kome,  may  have  been  before  Fra 
Angelico's  mind : — 

"  Signer  mio  Gesu  Cristo,  Dio  verace 
Or  fu  si  fatta  la  sembianza  vostra  ? " 

Far.  xxxi.  line  106. 

And  if  the  expression  is  so  wonderfully  rendered  as  to  give 
a  faint  suggestion  of  the  Divine  nature  to  our  feeble  imagi- 
nations, the  representation  of  the  human  form  far  surpasses 
any  of  Fra  Angelico's  previous  works ;  the  drawing  of  the 
figure  being  pronounced  by  able  and  careful  critics  to  be 
truly  and  exactly  rendered.^ 

The  figure  of  S.  Dominic  is  considered  to  be  no  less  excel- 
lent. He  kneels  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross  with  an  expression  of 
such  intensity  of  passion,  and  so  marked  an  individuality,  that 
it  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  portrait  of  one  of  the  brother- 
hood. Perhaps,  that  of  S.  Antoninus  the  Prior,  an  intimate 
friend  of  Fra  Angelico ;  perhaps  Fra  Benedetto ;  perhaps 
even  the  artist  himself. 

Near  this  painting,  and  above  the  door  leading  to  the 
sacristy,  is  the  next  work  of  Fra  Angelico,  a  fresco  of 
S.  Peter  Ma/rtyr^  painted  in  the  ogive. 

In  the  left  hand  he  holds  a  book  and  palm,  and  the  fore- 
finger of  the  right  hand  placed  on  his  mouth  enjoins  silence. 
S.  Dominic  with  the  discipline  of  his  Order,  occupies  the 
space  above  the  door  of  the  chapter-room. 

The  decoration  of  the  cloisters  is  completed  by  a  figure  of 
S.  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  two  more,  scenes  from  the  life  of  our 
Lord,  one  a  Resurrection,  painted  near  the  door  leading  to 
the  refectory,  in  which  the  figure   of   the  Saviour  is  again 

*  See  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  vol.  i.  p.  578. 


42  FRA  ANGELICO 

most  beautifully  rendered ;  the  other  painted  over  the  door 
of  the  hospice,  where  strangers  were  entertained,  in  which 
Fra  Angelico  represents  Two  Dominican  brothers  receiving 
the  Lord  as  a  pilgrim.  The  heads  of  the  two  brothers  are 
full  of  expression,  and  Fra  Bartolommeo  must  have  been 
inspired  by  the  same  idea  when  he  painted  the  Disciples  at 
Emmaus  above  the  door  of  the  refectory. 

Another  of  Fra  Angelico' s  masterpieces  is  at  the  farther 
end  of  the  chapter-room.  It  is  a  repetition  of  the  painting 
in  the  cloister,  only  with  the  addition  of  all  the  incidents  of 
the  Crucifixion,  and  it  represents  the  whole  scene  on  Calvary. 
The  Cross  of  the  Lord  is  very  high,  betwixt  the  two  thieves. 
At  his  feet  a  death's  head  marks  the  consequence  of  sin. 
Around  him  are  the  witnesses  of  His  Passion.  The  Blessed 
Virgin,  sinking  under  the  weight  of  her  griefs,  is  supported 
by  a  holy  woman.  Mary  Magdalen,  kneeling  at  the  foot  of 
the  Cross,  turns  without  rising  to  receive  the  Virgin  in 
her  arms,  and  they  form  a  very  beautiful  group.  On  one  side 
are  S.  John  the  Baptist,  S.  Mark,  historian  of  the  Passion, 
and  Protector  of  the  Convent,  S.  Lawrence,  SS.  Cosmo  and 
Damian,  patrons  of  the  Medici. 

On  the  opposite  side  are  introduced  the  figures  of  various 
other  saints.  The  whole  composition  is  framed  in  a  broad 
and  rich  border  divided  by  medallions  which  frame  the  heads 
of  the  prophets.  In  their  hands  they  holds  banderols,  on 
which  are  written  texts  taken  from  the  prophets. 

The  glories  of  the  order  of  S.  Dominic  are  represented  in 
the  lower  border.  Among  all  the  figures  of  this  vast  com- 
position, two  only  are  badly  represented,  that  of  the  un- 
repentant thief- — it  was  always  an  impossibility  with  Fra 
Angelico  to  depict  crime — and  that  of  S.  Mark ;  which  is 
accounted  for  by  it  having  been  possibly  painted  by  Fra 
Benedetto  instead  of  by  his  brother.  Otherwise  the  execution 
is  simple  and  free,  the  colouring  soft  and  light,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  background,  which  is  in  a  deplorable  condition. 


AT   SAN  MARCO.  .    43 

having  been  since  re-painted,  with  a  dull  red  and  a  cold  grey. 
No  one  knows  who  was  guilty  of  this  destructive  act. 

From  the  Chronicle  of  S.  Marco,  we  learn  that  there  was 
another  fresco  by  Fra  Angelico  in  the  refectory,  representing 
a  Crucifixion,  but  that  it  was  destroyed  in  1534. 

Of  all  Fra  Angelico' s  works,  there  are  none  which  give  us 
a  better  clue  to  the   mind  of    the   artist,  none  which   give 
greater  evidence  of  the  humility  of  his  character  than  the  ) 
frescoes  which  adorn  the  bare  walls  of  the  cells  of  his  con-  ^ 
vent.     Narrow,  low,  lighted  by  little  arched  windows,  with 
just  enough  space  for  a  table,  chair,  and   bed,  these  rude 
chambers  contain  some  of  Fra  Angelico's  best  work,  which, 
unknown  till  the  middle  of  this  century,  has  for  four  hundred    ' 
years  borne  silent  witness  to  his  desire  to  promote  the  glory 
of  God,  and  his  total  indifference  to  the  praise  of  men.^    )        I 

The  inexhaustible  and  favourite  theme  of  this  pious  piainter  ^ 
was  the  life  of  the  Lord,  and,  as  it  has  been  well  expressed, 
we  find  in  each  picture,  material  for  a  page  of  meditation  upon 
it.^  The  figures  are  middle-sized,  the  original  colouring — if 
we  except  the  background,  which  has  been  occasionally  re- 
touched— is  in  Fra  Angelico's  sweetest  and  purest  manner. 
On  the  outer  wall  of  the  range  of  cells,  the  series  begins 
with  the  Annunciation,  to  which  we  have  already  alluded  as 
the  finest  specimen  of  Fra  Angelico's  treatment  of  this 
subject.  It  is  again  repeated  inside  one  of  the  cells.  The 
Nativity  was  also  a  replica  of  that  painted  for  the  S. 
Annunziata,  now  in  the  Accademia  delle  Belle  Arti.  The 
Presentation  in  the  Temple  bears  great  resemblance  to  that  of 
Giotto,  also  in  the  Accademia ;  but  here,  unhappily,  the 
background  has  been  painted  over  with  a  heavy,  ugly  tint,  to 
the  great  damage  of  the  general  effect.  The  Adoration  of  the 
Magi  is  a  masterpiece,  bearing  the  evidence  of  Fra  Angelico's 
recent  studies  among  the  Renaissance  artists,  and  worthy  to 

1  Since  1867  the  convent  has  been  transformed  into  the  Museo  Florentine 
(li  S.  Marco.  ^  Cartier,  Life  of  Fra  Angelico,  Eng.  ed.,  p,  213. 


44  FRA  ANGELICO 

hold  its  place  by  them.  It  is  painted  in  a  cell  much  larger 
than  the  others,  the  one  set  apart  by  Cosimo  de'  Medici  for 
his  own  use  when  he  visited  S.  Antoninus,  the  prior  of  the 
convent,  and  Fra  Angelico.  It  also  received  Pope  Eu- 
genius  IV.,  when  he  consecrated  the  Church  of  S.  Marco, 
on  the  Feast  of  the  Epiphany,  1442.  The  subject  of  the 
picture  was  no  doubt  chosen  with  reference  to  this  event. 

The  Baptism  of  our  Saviour^  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  The 
Transfiguration — truer,  and  more  divine  in  its  type  of  the 
Saviour,  though  not  so  bold  as  that  of  Kaphael — The  Institu- 
tion of  the  Sacrament,  The  Agony  in  the  Garden,  The  Betrayal 
of  Judas,  TJie  Lord  in  the  Frcetorium,  The  Ascent  of  Calvary, 
The  Crucifixion,  are  all  treated  in  turn  with  the  inexhaustible 
tenderness  of  feeling,  the  unwearied  devotion  which  were  the 
inseparable  companions  of  Era  Angelico's  labours. 

The  three  last  paintings  of  the  series,  2%e  Holy  Women  at  the 
Tomb,  The  Descent  into  Limbo,  and  The  Coronation  of  the  Virgin, 
have  been  selected  as  the  most  remarkable — after  The  Adora- 
tion of  the  Magi — of  this  series.  In  the  Descent  into  Limbo, 
Christ,  as  Conqueror,  enters  through  the  gate,  which  has 
fallen  flat  at  His  approach,  beneath  it  Lucifer  lies  crushed, 
the  impersonation  of  death  and  sin. 

The  Saviour  stretches  forth  His  hand  to  Abraham,  the 
father  of  the  faithful,  foremost  among  the  vast  multitude  of 
"spirits  in  prison,"  who  have  so  long  awaited  His  coming. 
Among  these  we  recognise  Adam  and  Eve. 

The  Italian  critics  look  upon  it  as  a  marvellous  rendering 
of  the  well-known  passage  in  the  Inferno — 

*•  Vidi  venire  un  Possente 
Con  segno  di  Vittoria  incoronato, 
Trasseci  I'ombra  del  Primo  Parente. 
D'Abel  suo  Figlio,  quella  di  Noe, 
Di  Moise  legista  e  I'ubbidiente 
Abraam  Patriarca  e  David  Re  ; 
*  *  *  * 

Ed  altri  molti  e  fecegli  beati." — {Inf.  civ.  54, et  seq.) 


AT  SAN   MARCO.  45 

If,  in  The  Descent  into  Limbo,  Fra  Angelico  gives  expression 
to  Dante's  lines,  it  is  the  same  poet's  conception  by  which  he 
is  guided  in  the  grouping  of  the  saints,  who  are  contemplat- 
ing the  Coronation  of  the  Virgin ;  disposing  them  as  if 
they  constituted  one  of  those  garlands  of  blessed  spirits  who 
incessantly  sing  and  dance  round  the  Eternal  Throne.  The 
principal  figures  are  more  celestial  in  their  rendering  in  this 
fresco  than  in  the  picture  which  treats  of  the  same  subject, 
now  in  the  Gallery  of  the  Uffizi.  The  Virgin  is  seated  on  a 
white  cloud,  overarched  by  a  rainbow.  She  is  robed  in  white, 
her  arms  are  folded  on  her  bosom,  a  gentle  smile  is  on  her 
lips,  as  she  leans  forward  to  receive  the  crown  from  the 
Saviour  seated  by  her  side.  Her  whole  attitude  is  one  of 
deep  humility  in  the  midst  of  all  the  surrounding  glory. 

The  figure  of  the  Saviour  is  also  robed  in  white,  shaded 
with  a  light  and  delicate  tone  of  colour,  and  in  the  drapery 
of  the  two  figures  Fra  Angelico  surpasses  himself. 

The  last  painting,  one  of  the  most  perfect  as  a  composition, 
in  the  Convent  of  S.  Marco  is  upon  the  wall  of  the  upper 
dormitory,  and  represents  the  Madonna  surrounded  with  the 
patron  saints  of  the  convent  and  order. 

Besides  the  paintings  which  have  been  specially  selected  as 
types  of  the  whole  series,  there  are  eighteen  smaller  pictures 
in  the  cells  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  second  dormitory ; 
but  of  these,  some  have  perished  from  damp,  and  some  have 
been  still  more  effectually  ruined  by  the  attempt  to  repair 
them. 

Fea  Angelico  at  Rome.     1445—1455.  -^ 

The  last  ten  years  of  Fra  Angelico's  life  were  to  be  spent 
at  Rome,  and  some  of  his  best  work  belongs  to  this  period.      ;  ^^ 
He  was  at  that  time  between  fifty  and  sixty,  and  it  is  a  fact     '  '^- 
recently  brought  before  our  notice,^  that  many  of  the  great 
artists  during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  produced 
*  Burckhardt's  Cicerone  for  Italy,  ed.  1879,  p.  55, 


46  FRA  ANGELICO 

their  greatest  chefs-d'ozuvre  comparatively  late  in  life.  Titian 
and  Michelangelo,  Leonardo,  when  he  painted  his  Cenacolo 
at  Milan,  and  Bellini,  the  most  astonishing  of  all,  who  painted 
some  of  his  finest  pictures  when  he  had  passed  his  eighty- 
eighth  year!  Nor  is  it  difficult  to  imagine  that  with  such 
artists  as  these,  and  with  all  the  great  artists  who  have  since 
followed  in  their  steps,  every  year  of  experience  would  only 
add  to  the  practised  cunning  of  the  hand  so  long  as  it 
retained  its  power,  and  develop  in  the  eye's  undimmed  gaze 
an  ever-increasing  capacity  for  seeing  with  the  understanding 
as  well  as  the  sight. 

Yasari  tells  us  that  Pope  Nicholas  Y.  invited  Era  Angelic  o 
to  Rome  ;  but  in  this  he  is  proved  to  be  inaccurate  (and  is  cor- 
rected in  the  new  Commentary).  It  is  true  that  Fra  Angelico 
was  afterwards  employed  by  him ;  ^  but  it  was  from  Euge- 
nius  lY.,  the  predecessor  of  Nicholas  Y.  in  the  Pontifical 
,^hair,  that  the  first  summons  came.  He  consecrated  the 
Church  of  S.  Marco  in  1442 :  the  cell  which  he  occupied  on 
that  occasion  had  been  adorned  by  Fra  Angelico  :  it  was, 
therefore,  no  wonder  that  he  should  invite  to  Rome  one  who 
had  already  achieved  so  much  in  art. 

Fra  Angelico  painted  for  him  the  Cappella  del  Sacramento, 
with  scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ,  but  the  chapel  was  after- 
wards demolished  by  Paul  III.  It  was  while  engaged  upon 
this-  work  that  the  Archbishopric  of  Florence  fell  vacant ;  the 
Pope  offered  it  to  Fra  Angelico,  who,  shrinking  from  an 
honour  of  which,  in  his  modesty,  he  felt  himself  unworthy, 
recommended  in  his  stead  S.  Antoninus,  who  was  afterwards 
appointed  to  the  vacant  see. 

Pope  Eugenius  died  shortly  after  Fra  Angelico' s  arrival  in 
Rome,  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1445.  During  the 
interval  which  elapsed  before  his  successor  Nicholas  Y.  was 
firmly  established  in  the  Papal  Chair,  Fra  Angelico  painted 
some  of  his  best  frescoes  in  the  Cathedral  of  Orvieto.  He 
1  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  vol.  ii.  p.  528. 


AT  ROME.  47 

was  engaged  by  tlie  Chapter  in  conclave  assembled,  to  paint 
the  Last  Judgment  in  the  Cappella  Nuova  with  figures  the    \ 
size  of  life.^ 

They  conferred  upon  him  the  title  of  Maestro  de'  Maestri ;  1 
he  was  to  work  there  during  the  months  of  June,  July, 
and  August,  at  the  rate  of  200  golden  ducats  a  year.  Fra 
Angelico  fulfilled  his  engagement  as  to  time,  and  with  the 
help  of  his  pupil  Benozzo  Gozzoli,  was  able  to  accomplish  the 
decoration  of  three  triangular  divisions  in  the  ceiling.  In 
these,  he  represented  : — 

1.  The  Saviour  surrounded  by  a  glory  of  Angels,  in  the  act 
of  giving  judgment.  The  attitude  is  supposed  to  have  been 
afterwards  copied  by  Michelangelo. 

2.  Sixteen  figures  of  Saints  and  Apostles  seated  in  the  clouds. 

3.  The  Virgin  amongst  the  Apostles. 

He  was  obliged  to  leave  the  work  unfinished,  being  sum-  i 
moned  back  to  Rome  by  Nicholas  Y.     There  he  decorated 
the  Chapel  of   the   Vatican   which  bears   the   name  of   the 
Pontiff.^     It  is  curious  that  for  two  centuries  the  key  of  the 

1  Their  deliberations  (May  11th,  1447),  still  preserved  in  the  archives 
of  the  Cathedral,  were  thus  worded  :  "  Considering  that  the  chapel 
facing  the  one  of  the  Corporal  is  blank  ....  it  would  be  fitting  to  have 
it  painted  by  some  good  and  famous  master-painter.  At  this  moment 
there  is  at  Orvieto  a  religious  of  the  observance  of  S.  Dominic,  who  has 
painted,  and  is  painting,  the  chapel  of  our  most  holy  Father  in  the 
Palace  of  the  Vatican,  who  might  perhaps  be  persuaded  to  come  and 
paint  the  chapel ;  he  is  the  most  famous  of  all  the  painters  of  Italy,  and 
would  paint  in  the  church  only  three  months  in  the  year,  that  is,  in 
June,  July,  and  Avigust,  because  during  the  other  months  he  is  obliged  to 
serve  the  Holy  Father ;  but  in  these  three  months  he  will  not  remain  in 
Eome.  He  asks  a  salary  for  himself  at  the  rate  of  200  ducats  of  gold  a 
year,  with  the  expenses  of  food,  and  colours,  scaffolding,  &c.  And  this 
master-painter  is  named  Fra  Giovanni." — Life  of  Fra  Angelico,  by  E. 
Cartier,  p.  256. 

2  The  following  notes  are  taken  from  documents,  or  registers,  of 
the  Camera  Apostolica  relative  to  Fra  Angelico's  works  in  Rome:  — 

**1447    9  May.   To  Pietro  Giacomo,  who  worked  with  Fra  Giovanni, 


48  FRA  ANGELICO. 

chapel  should  have  been  lost,  and  thus  the  treasures  which  it 
contained  were  unknown  to  the  general  world. 

The  frescoes  illustrate  scenes  from  the  Life  of  SS.  Stephen 
and  Lawrence.  The  history  of  S.  Stephen  is  painted  in  the 
arches  of  the  upper  part,  that  of  S.  Lawrence  below.  On 
the  pilasters  on  each  side  of  the  lower  course  of  frescoes, 
Era  Angelico  painted  saints  erect  in  niches.  SS.  Anastasius, 
Leo,  Thomas  Aquinas,  Ambrose,  Buonaventura,  Augustine, 
John,  Chrysostom,  and  Pope  Gregory  the  Great.  In  the  ceil- 
ing which  he  painted  azure  spangled  with  stars,  he  represented 
in  the  four  compartments  in  which  it  was  divided,  the  four 
'Evangelists  with  their  symbols.  The  whole  series  show  the 
result  of  Era  Angelico' s  studies  in  the  Brancacci  chapel,  and 
that  while  he  had  not  lost  any  of  his  original  qualities,  he 
had  acquired  new  ones.  Still  preserving  the  purity,  and 
devotional  feeling  of  his  drawing,  and  the  transparency  of 
his  colouring,  he  added  to  these,  more  science  in  the  lines, 
more  vigorous  tones,  greater  mastery  over  the  arrangement 
of  his  figures,  more  powerful  effects  of  light  and  shade. 
Erom  a  distance  they  succeed  in  giving  the  effect  of  the  bold 
touch  of  Masaccio ;  when  looked  at  closely,  they  have  the 
finish  of  an  exquisite  miniature.^  Vasari  mentions  other 
pictures  by  Era  Angelico   in   Borne;  a  Crucifixion,   in  the 

for  working  in  the  chapel  at  S.  Peter's,  3  florins,  15  bolognese — salary  for 
1  month  and  18  days  from  18th  March  to  2nd  of  May. 

"1447,  23  May.  To  Fra  Giovanni  di  Pietro,  painter  of  the  chapel  of 
S.  Peter's,  to  the  23rd  day  of  May  40  ducats,  27  bolognese,  on  account  of 
the  annual  200  ducats  from  13th  March  to  last  of  May  proximo,  43 
florins,  27  bolognese. 

•'  1447,  1  June.  To  Fra  Giovanni,  who  paints  in  the  chapel  of  S. 
Pietro,  to  the  said  day,  2  florins,  39  bolognese  for  expenses  in  the  work  of 
that  chapeL 

"  1449.  Ducats  182,  bolognese  62,  denari  8,  for  the  painting  of  the 
studio  (di  N.-S.),  Nostro  Signore  (?),  the  Pope  (?).  For  the  salary  of 
Fra  Giovanni,  of  Fiesole,  and  his  workmen  and  other  things."  (This  was 
probably  the  cabinet  of  Nicholas  V.) 

I  Marchese,  vol.  i.  pp.  293 — 4. 


St.  Lawrence   giving   Alms.      By   Fea   Angelico. 
In  the  Chapel  of  Nicholas  V.  in  the  Vatican,  Rome. 


V^ 


^ 


\^ 


P  F  A 


^  ^pv. 


**:.x^^' 


50  FRA  ANGELICO. 

Vatican,  and  an  Annunciation  in  Sta.  Maria  sopra  Minerva  ; 
but  these  are  no  longer  to  be  seen.  We  know,  however,  for 
certain,  that  two  of  his  Last  Judgments,  those  in  the  Corsini, 
and  Dudley  galleries,  were  executed  at  this  time ;  also  two 
pictures  which  have  now  been  removed  to  Naples,  and  are 
in  the  Bourbon  Museum  there. ^  One  (296)  is  an  Assump- 
tion of  the  Virgin,  the  other  Our  Lady  ad  Nives,  representing 
the  legend  of  the  foundation  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore  in 
E/ome.  The  earth  is  covered  with  snow,  and  while  the  Pope 
Liberius  traces  the  foundation  of  the  new  Church,  our  Lord 
and  the  Holy  Virgin  appear  in  the  sky. 

It  is  not  known  why  Era  Angelico  never  returned  to  finish 
his  work  at  Orvieto,  but  it  is  recorded  as  a  fact  that  to  the 
last  the  Chapter  of  the  cathedral  waited  in  the  hope  of  his 
return.  Many  painters  desired  to  finish  the  work,  but  they 
never  received  permission  to  do  so  till  the  tidings  reached 
Orvieto  that  Era  Angelico  was  dead. 

He  died  in  Rome,  at  the  age  of    sixty-eight,  March  18, 
1455,  and  was  buried  in  Santa  Maria  sopra  Minerva;    Pope 
Nicholas   V.    himself    wrote    the    epitaph,   which, .  while   it 
recognises  the  marvellous  talents  of  the  painter,  still  gives  i 
his  virtues  the  first  place  :  ^ 

Hie  jacet  ven.  pictor. 
Fr.  lo.  de  Flor.  Ords.  pdicato.  ILLV. 
M. 
C.  C.  C.  C. 
L. 
V. 
Non  mihi  sit  laudi,  quod  eram  velut  alter  Apelles, 

Sed  quod  lucra  tuis  omnia,  Christe,  daham. 
Altera  nam  terns  opera  exstant,  altera  coelo  ; 
Urbs  me  Joannem  flos  tulit  Etrurise. 

Though  no  artist's  life  was,  as  a  whole,  more  equal  than 
that  of  Era  Angelico,  we  can  yet  trace  the  different  influences 

»  Nos  296,  298.  ^  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  p.  532, 


WORKS  OF  FEA  ANGELICO.  51 

whicli  divided  it  into  the  three  distinct  epochs  to  which  we 
have  alluded.  The  first  epoch  was  that  of  the  Umbrian  School, 
during  his  exile  from  Fiesole,  which  fostered  the  simplicity 
and  purity  of  his  soul,  and  gave  to  his  youthful  compositions 
great  tenderness  of  feeling,  and  an  inimitable  freshness  of 
expression.  Of  these,  the  masterpiece  is  the  Coronation  of 
tlie  Virgin  in  the  Louvre. 

The  second  epoch,  that  of  his  full  manhood,  is  best  repre- 
sented by  the  frescoes  of  S.  Marco.  He  corrected  the  defects  of 
his  youth,  a  want  of  life  and  pliancy  in  his  figures,  and  a 
too  great  love  of  ornament  in  the  details.  "While  still  pre- 
serving the  devotional  spirit  of  his  works,  he  gathered  fresh 
power  from  studying  the  paintings  of  his  great  contemporaries 
in  Florence. 

In  the  third  epoch,  that  spent  at  Rome,  the  fruit  of  these 
studies  is  still  more  apparent,  in  an  increased  vigour  of  draw- 
ing, a  grandeur  of  style,  and  a  marked  improvement  in  his 
architectural  distances. 

Some  critics  have  indeed  pronounced  these  later  works  of 
Fra  Angelico  to  be  superior  to  those  of  Masaccio  in  the 
harmony  of  his  lines  in  composition,  while  his  colouring  only 
appears  inferior  to  that  of  Giotto  and  Masaccio,  because  his 
light  and  shade  were  not  sufficiently  defined,  and  because  he 
was  unacquainted  with  the  mysteries  of  chiaroscuro.  Per- 
haps the  best  clue  to  Fra  Angelico's  paintings  is  to  be  found 
in  his  character,  which  Yasari  describes  with  simple  eloquence. 

"  Fra  Giovanni,"  he  tells  us,  "  was  a  man  of  simple  and 
blameless  life.  He  shunned  the  world,  with  all  its  tempta- 
tions, and  during  his  pure  and  simple  life  was  such  a 
friend  to  the  poor  that  I  think  his  soul  must  now  be  in 
heaven.  He  painted  incessantly,  but  would  never  represent 
any  other  than  a  sacred  subject.  He  might  have  been  rich, 
but  he  scorned  it,  saying  that  true  riches  consisted  in  being 
content  to  be  poor.  He  might  have  been  placed  in  a  position 
of  power  and  authority,  but  he  declined  on  the  ground  that 

E  2 


52  FEA  ANGELICO. 

it  was  easier  to  obey  than  to  command ;  that  the  temptation 
was  less.  He  might  have  enjoyed  dignities  both  within  and 
without  his  convent,  but  he  refused,  declaring  that  his  life  had 
but  one  end  in  view,  to  flee  from  the  evils  of  hell,  and  to 
approach  the  joys  of  heaven.  .  .  .  Humane  and  sober,  he 
lived  a  chaste  life,  avoiding  the  snares  of  the  world,  and  he 
was  wont  to  say  that  the  pursuit  of  art  required  rest,  and  a 
life  of  holy  thoughts ;  that  he  who  illustrates  the  acts  of 
Christ  should  be  with  Christ.  He  was  never  known  to 
indulge  in  anger  against  his  brethren — a  great  point,  and  in 
my  opinion,  all  but  unattainable — and  he  never  admonished 
but  with  a  smile.  With  incredible  kindness  he  would  tell 
those  who  sought  his  works  that,  if  they  could  arrange  with 
the  prior,  he  would  not  fail  them.  In  fact,  this  father,  whom 
no  one  can  too  much  praise,  was  in  all  his  dealings  and 
intercourse  modest  and  humble,  and  in  his  works  simple  and 
pious.  The  saints  whom  he  depicted  had  more  the  air  and 
semblance  of  saints  than  any  produced  by  others.  He  never 
retouched  or  altered  anything  he  had  once  finished,  but  left 
it  as  it  was,  believing  it  to  be  the  will  of  God,  that  it  should 
be  so.  Some  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  Fra  Giovanni  never 
touched  a  brush  without  first  humbling  himself  in  prayer. 
He  never  represented  the  crucified  Saviour  without  having 
his  cheeks  bathed  in  tears ;  and  hence  one  may  judge  from 
the  features  and  attitudes  of  his  figures  the  perfection  of  his 
grand  and  sincere  belief  in  the  Christian  faith."  ^ 
\^p~Here  we  find  the  secret  of  the  beauty,  sweetness,  and 
truth  which  prevail  in  his  paintings.  With  the  single  aim 
before  him  of  giving  back  to  the  service  of  heaven  talents 
which  were  heaven-born,  no  worldly  distractions  had  power 
to  disturb  the  untroubled  peace  of  his  soul.  Secluded  in  this 
holy  calm,  the  cares  and  passions  of  human  life  were  un- 
known to  him,  hence  his  inability  to  deal  with  their  repre- 
sentation in  painting ;  hence  the  lack  of  power  and  strength, 

1  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  vol.  ii.  p.  520. 


WORKS  OF  FRA.  ANGELICO.  53 

and  the  incapacity  for  representing  evil,  which  appears  in  his 

treatment  of  the  unrepentant  thief   upon  the  cross,  of  the 

wicked  in  his  oft-repeated  pictures  of   the  Last  Judgment. 

In  the  joys  of  Paradise  he  found  a  more  fitting  theme  for  his 

gentle,  loving  pencil ;  he  peopled  the  blessed  regions  with 

saints  and  angels  of   unearthly  beauty ;    he   adorned  them 

with   the   fairest   flowers   and   colours,   whose    never-fading 

/  brightness  have  borne  witness  for  more  than  four  hundred 

fi  ^       years  to  the  truth  of   that  "  Life  of  the  world   to   come," 

'  which    throughout    his    earthly    career     was     the    abiding 

conviction  of  the  artist's  soul. 


167-^ 


A  LIST   OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  WORKS  OF 

FRA   ANGELICO.i 

ANTWERP.      Museum. 

S.  Romualdo    reproaching  Otho    III.    with   the  murder  of  Cre- 
scentius.2 

BERLIN.  Museum. 

Madonna  Enthroned  with  Child,  with  S.   Dominic  and  S.  Peter 

Martyr. 
S.  Dominic  and  S.  Francis. 
Glorification  of  S.  Francis. 
CORTONA.       San  Domenico. 

Virgin  and  Child  with  S.  Dominic  and  S.  Peter  i^unette). 
Four  Evangelists  {fresco,  much  damaged). 
Vhgin  and  Child  with  Saints  [altar-piece)  a. 

Baptistery  {formerly  the  Jesuit  Church). 

)n,  with  scenes  from  the   Life  of  the  Virgin  on  tlie, 
)redella  {from  San  Domenico,  Cortona). 
Predella,   with  scenes  from  the  Life  of  S".  Dominic  {predella  to 
altar-piece  in  San  Domenico,  Cortona  a). 

^  Compiled  from  Crowe  and  Caralcaselle's  History  of  Painting  in  Italy, 
Barckhardt's  Cicerone — an  Art  Guide  to  Painting  in  Italy  (1879),  and  the 
official  catalogues  of  those  galleries  which  contain  works  by  Fra  Angelico, 

2  In  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle  it  is  miscalled  "  S.  Ambrose  refusing  the 
Entrance  of  the  Temple  to  Theodosius."  See  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle, 
vol.  i.  p.  588. 


54  FRA.  AXGELICO. 

FLORENCE.      ACCADEMIA  DELLE   BeLLE   ArTI. 

Descent  from  the  Cross  {from  Santa  Trinitd,  Florence), 

The  Virgin  and  Child  with  Saints  ;  and,  on  the  predella,  a  Piet^ 

and  Six  Saints  (from  the  Convent  del  Bosco  a  Frati  di  Mugello). 
The  Virgin  and  Child  with  Saints. 
The  'Virgin  and  Child  with  Saints  {from  the  Monastery  of  Anna- 

Una,  Florence). 
S.  Cosmo  and  S.  Damian  replacing  a  leg  cut  off  a  sick  Man  with 

that  of  a  Negro  {part  of  a  predella). 
Eighteen  scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ,  /3  {from  the  Convent  of 

the  SS.  Annunziata — originally  panels    to   ornament  the  plate 

cupboards.    *'  The  Last  Supper,  The  baptism,  and  Transfiguta- 

tion,  are  not  by  Fra  Angelico." — Crowe  and  Gavalcaselle). 
The  History  of  Five  Martyrs. 
Predella,    with    six    scenes    from    the    lives    of   S.    Cosmo    and 

S.   Damian   {from  the  Chapel  of  S.  Luke,  in  the  cloister  of  the 

SS.  AnnunziaM,  Florence). 
Seventeen  scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ  {from  the  Convent  of  the 

SS.  Annunziata).     Same  series  as  fi. 
Coronation  of  the  Virgin. 
Crucifixion. 
A  Pietk,  and  The  Adoration  of  the  Magi.     {'*  Possibly  by  a  pupil." — 

Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle. ) 
Entombment  {formerly  in  the  Monastery  della  Groce  al  Tempio). 
Last  Judgment  {formerly  in  the  Monastery  degliAngeli,  Floren/x). 

Uffizi. 
Virgin  and  Child  with  Saints  {painted  in  1433  for  the  Corporation 

of  the  Linaiuoli)  y. 
Birth  of  John  the  Baptist  {part  of  predella  of  5). 
Marriage  of  the  Virgin  {part  of  predella  of  5). 
Death  of  the  Virgin  {part  of  predella  of  5). 
The    Coronation     of    the    Virgin,    S     {from  S.    Maria    Nuova, 

Florence). 
Predella  of  y.      The    Preaching  of   S.    Peter;   Adoration  of  the 
Magi ;  Martyrdom  of  S.  Mark. 

S.  Matteo.     In  the  Hospital — 
The  Virgin  and  Child  adored  by  Four  Angels. 

Convent  of  San  Marco  {now  the  Museo  Fiorentino  di 
San  Marco). 
In  the  Cloisters — 
The  Crucifixion,  with  S.  Dominic. 
S.  Peter  Martyr  enjoining  silence. 


WORKS  OF  FRA  ANaELICO.  55 

Convent  of  San  Marco  {continued). 
S.  Dominic  with  the  scourge  of  nine  thongs. 
Christ  coming  from  the  Sepulchre. 
S.  Thomas  Aquinas. 

Christ  as  a  Pilgrim  welcomed  by  two  Dominican  Monks. 
Christ  with  the  "Woundprints. 
In  the  Chapter  Hoibse — 

Crucifixion.      Christ  between  the  thieves,  surrounded  by  a  group 
of  twenty  Saints,    and    below  —  bust    portraits    of   seventeen 
Dominicans. 
On  the  Upper  Floor — 
^n^ciation. 

CfflB^inhe  Cross,  with  S.  Dominic. 
Enthroned  Madonna  and  Saints. 
In  the  Cells — 

-    Coronation  of  the  Virgin. 
The  Maries  at  the  Sepulchre. 
Christ  opening  the  Gates  of  Hell. 
Transfiguration. 
Entombment. 
Madonna. 
Adoration  of  the  Magi. 
Coronation  of  the  Virgin. 
^^^  Three  Reliquaries.    One  adorned  with  "  The  Virgin  and  Child  ; " 
^  I5j        second  with  the  "Annunciation"  and  "Adoration  of  the  Magi ; " 
and  the  third  with  a  *' Coronation  of  the  Virgin  and  Saints." 
{From  the  Sacristy  of  Santa  Maria  Novella.) 

FIESOLE.  '      San  Domenico. 

Madonna  and  Saints  {the  predella  is  in  the  National  Gallery). 
In  the  Chapter  House  {now  a  green-hou^e) — 
Madonna  and  Saints. 

FRANKFORT.    Stadel. 

Virgin  with  twelve  Angels. 

LONDON.         National  Gallery. 

Adoration    of   the    Magi    {from    the   Lombardi-Baldi    Collection, 

Florenc^. 
Christ— with  the  banner  of  the  Resurrection  in  his  left  hand,  in  the 
midst  of  a  choir  of  Angels,  and  crowds  of  the  Blessed.     In  five 
compartments.     {Formerly  the  predella  to  the  aUar-piece  in  San 
Domenico  at  Fiesole. ) 


66  FRA  ANGELICO. 

LONDON.         Dudley  House. 

Last  Judgment  {from  the  Fesch  Collection). 

Virgin  and  Child  with  Saints  [from  the  Bisenzio  Collection,  Rome). 

MUNICH.  PiNAKOTHEK. 

The  Almighty  adored  by  Angels.     {"Falsely  ascribed  to  Angelico." 

— Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle.) 
Three  scenes  from  the  Lives  of  Cosmo  and  S.  Damian  {part  of  a  pre- 

della  of  the  altar-piece,  pairUed  in  1438  for  San  Marco,  Florence). 

ORVIETO.        Cathedeal. 

Christ,  in  a  glory  of  Angels,  as  Judge — with  sixteen  Saints  and  Pro- 
phets to  the  right,  and  the  Virgin  and  the  Apostles  to  the  left. 
{All  more  or  less  damaged;  finished  by  Signorelli  in  1499.) 

PARIS.  Louvre. 

Coronation  of  the  Virgin — on  the  predella,  seven  subjects  :  six 
scenes  from  the  Life  of  S.  Dominic,  and  in  the  centre  Christ  risen 
from  the  Tomb  ( formerly  in  San  Domenico,  Fiesole). 

Crucifixion  {from  the  Convent  of  San  Domenico,  Fiesole). 

:^ERIJftTA.        Pinacoteca. 

Annnn ^nation  (  from  San  Domenico,  Perugia). 
Madonna  and  Saints. 
Miracles  of  S.  Nicholas  of  Bari. 

ROME.  Vatican.     Capella  di  Niccolb  V. 

Six  scenes  from  the  Life  of  S.  Stephen.     {Above.) 
Six  scenes  from  the  Life  of  S.  Lawrence.     {Below.) 
The  Four  Evangelists.     {On  the  Ceiling.) 
The  Teachers  of  the  Church.     {On  the  Vaulting.) 

Vatican  Picture  Gallery— 
S.  Nicholas  of  Bari  {part  of  a  predella). 
Madonna  and  Angels. 

CoRSiNi  Palace. 
Last  Judgment. 
'  Ascension.     {"  Weak  and  re-painted." — Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle.) 

Descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  {"Much  restored." — Crowe  and 
Cavalcaselle.) 

TURIN.  Gallery. 

Two  Angels  kneeling  on  Clouds. 


^^ 


FRA  BENEDETTO.  57 


FRA  BENEDETTO. 


We  have  seen  tliat  Era  Benedetto,  the  brother  of  Era 
Angelico,  entered  simultaneously  with  him  the  convent  at 
Fiesole.  Era  Benedetto  was  also  an  artist,  but  of  a  very- 
inferior  order.  He  resembled  his  brother  in  piety  and 
religious  feeling,  but  had  not  the  same  talent ;  nor  was  he, 
like  Era  Angelico,  an  industrious  student  from  nature. 

It  is  necessary  to  recognise  the  difference  between  the 
works  of  the  two  brothers,  because,  as  they  sometimes 
worked  at  the  same  painting,  the  fame  of  Era  Angelico  has 
somewhat  suffered  through  the  faults  of  Era  Benedetto.  A 
careful  study  of  the  two  styles  will  reveal  which  is  the 
work  of  Era  Benedetto,  and  account  for  an  irregularity  of 
painting  which  could  not  otherwise  be  explained  in  Era 
Angelico's  work.  Benedetto's  figures  are  dumpy  and  ill  set,  the 
heads  too  broad,  the  extremities  badly  finished,  the  feet  ugly, 
and  they  are  sketched  with  a  heavy  brown  touch,  while 
those  of  Era  Angelico  are  prepared  with  great  lightness, 
and  the  touch,  which  is  hardly  perceived,  of  a  brilliant  red. 

But  as  a  miniaturist  and  illuminator  Era  Benedetto  earned 
a  well  deserved  fame  in  the  choir-books  of  S.  Marco.  They 
are  in  fourteen  volumes,  and  still  serve  the  church.  They 
were  executed  between  the  years  1443-8.  The  writing  is 
beautiful ;  they  are  filled  with  illuminations,  valuable  texts 
of  ancient  religious  music,  and  bear  the  arms  of  Cosimo 
de'  Medici,  from  whom  Era  Benedetto  received  the 
commission.^ 

Like  Era  Angelico,  Era  Benedetto  was  particularly  beloved 
by   S.    Antoninus,    who   made   him   sub-prior   of   S.  Marco, 
where  he  lived  till  elected  Prior  of  his  former  convent  at    \>> 
Fiesole.     There  he  died  of  the  plague  in  1448.  ^,^        .^  \ v  " 


\ 


CHAPTEE  lY. 

FRA  FILIPPO  LIPPI,  AND  HIS  IMMEDIATE  FOLLOWERS. 


ERA  FILIPPO   LIPPI.     Born   1412  (?).    Died   1469. 

"I  drew  men's  faces  on  my  copybooks, 
Scrawled  them  within  the  antiphonary's  marge, 
Joined  legs  and  arms  to  the  long  music  notes, 
Found  nose  and  eyes  and  chin  for  A's  and  B's, 
And  made  a  string  of  pictures  of  the  world ; 
Betwixt  the  ins  and  outs  of  verb  and  noun, 
On  the  wall,  the  bench,  the  door." 

Browning's  Men  and  Women,  vol.  i.  p.  42. 

THE  life  of  Era  Eilippo  Lippi  presents  in  all  points 
as  marked  a  contrast  as  possible  to  that  of  Era 
Angelico ;  but  it  need  only  be  the  concern  of  these  pages  to 
treat  of  it  so  far  as  it  is  connected  with  his  works  as  an 
artist.  His  great  natural  gifts  showed  themselves  at  a  very 
early  age.  Having  lost  his  parents  in  childhood,  he  was 
place  by  an  aunt  in  the  convent  of  the  Carmine  at  Elorence. 
Here,  in  1402,  he  began  his  novitiate  as  a  brother  of 
the  order,  and  here  his  drawings  were  so  remarkable  that 
he  was  allowed  to  abandon  all  other  studies  and  to  devote 
himself  exclusively  to  art.  Great  models  were  immediately 
before  him  in  Masaccio's  paintings,  newly  completed,  in  the 


FRA  FILIPPO  LIPPI.  59 

Brancacci  Chapel.  He  soon  became  so  imbued  with  the  style 
of  the  great  master,  that  Yasari  tells  us  it  was  as  if  the 
spirit  of  Masaccio  had  entered  the  body  of  Fra  Filippo  Lippi : 
a,nd  Lanzi  says,  that  if  he  was  not  the  actual  pupil  of 
Masaccio,  he  was  the  pupil  of  his  works. 

These  early  productions  have  all  perished,  but  many  of 
his  altar-pieces  and  small  pictures  remain  to  testify  to  the 
fruit  of  his  training  in  the  Brancacci  Chapel.  Among  the 
finest  specimens  of  this  early  manner  is  the  altar-piece, 
painted  when  he  was  only  twenty-five  years  of  age,  for  the 
church  of  the  Santo  Spirito  at  Florence,  now  in  the  Louvre. 
It  represents  The  Virgin  standing  on  the  first  step  of  her 
throne,  between  angels  and  archangels,  presenting  the  infant 
Saviour  to  two  kneeling  bishops  of  the  Augustine  Order, 
SS.  Frediano  and  Gregory.  On  account  of  the  finish  and 
expression  of  their  upturned  faces,  these  two  figures  are 
considered  the  best  part  of  the  painting ;  as,  although  the 
attitude  of  the  Madonna  is  good,  the  head  is  commonplace, 
and  that  of  our  Saviour  of  the  heavy,  earthly  type,  with  the 
short  neck,  which  so  often  appears  in  Fra  Filippo's  repre- 
sentations of  the  Infant  Christ.  The  Gradino  belonging  to 
it,  representing  the  Annunciation  and  three  (^ther  scenes, 
is  now  in  the  Accademia  delle  Belle  Arti  at  Florence.^ •"'''** 

We  can  form  an  idea  of  the  amount  of  labour  spent  upon 
this  picture  from  the  account  of  a  contemporary  artist. 
Domenico  Yeneziano,  in  a  letter  written  from  Perugia  (1438) 
to  Pietro  de'  Medici,  describes  Fra  Filippo  as  "  engaged  upon 
an  altar-piece  for  the  church  of  tli^  Santo  Spirito,  which,  if 
he  were  to  work  upon  it  day  and  night,  might  be  completed 
in  five  years."  ^  ^    » 

We  possess  in  our  National  Gallery  another  painting  of 
the  Virgin  Enthroned^  surrounded  by  Saints  and  Angels,  said 

^  Quadri  Grandi,  No.  42.     Gtowe  an^  Cavakaselle,  vol.  ii.  p.  326, 
2  Vasari  ed.  1878-9,»vol.  wTnote  to  p.  ^18J^ 

.  ^  :.^  >.-^ 


60  THE  SUCCESSOES   OF  TEA  ANGELTCO. 

to  be  by  Fra  Filippo  Lippi;  but,  according  to  the  latest 
edition  of  Yasari/  this  is  not  the  Santo  Spirito  altar-piece, 
although  it  is  so  marked  in  the  catalogue.^ 

Three  out  of  the  other  four  pictures  by  Fra  Filippo  Lippi, 
in  our  National  Collection,  can  be  exactly  traced  (Nos.  248, 
666,  667). 

(1)  The  Vision  of  S.  Bernard,^  which  was  painted  for 
forty  lire  in  1447,  to  adorn  the  space  above  the  door  of  the 
Cancelleria  in  the  Palazzo  de'  Signori  at  Florence. 

It  is  a  remarkable  and  authentic  picture,  but  not  by  any 
means  so  attractively  coloured  as  most  of  Fra  Filippo' s 
pictures. 

(2  and  3)  The  Annunciation,  and  aS'.  John  the  Baptist  with 
fix  other  Saints.  These  were  painted  for  his  patron,  Cosimo 
de'  Medici,  for  the  Palazzo  Riccardi,  and,  therefore,  among  the 
saints  in  the  last  picture,  the  usual  compliment  is  paid  of 
introducing  SS.  Cosmo  and  Damian  among  the  saints.  The 
pictures  are  both  marked  with  the  crest  of  the  Medici,  three 
feathers  tied  together  in  a  ring.  Cosimo  de'  Medici  was,  in 
truth,  his  constant  patron,  not  only  using  his  influence  to 
procure  for  Fra  Filippo  ecclesiastical  appointments,  but 
giving  him  commissions  for  pictures,  which  he  afterwards 
presented  to  the  various  potentates  of  Italy. 

Among  these  we  may  mention  Alfonso,  King  of  Naples; 
and  a  letter  is  extant,  written  by  Giovanni  de'  Medici  to 
Messer  Bartolommeo  Serragli  at  Naples,  June,  1456,  re- 
joicing that  one  of  Fra  Filippo  Lippi's   pictures  should  be 

1  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  vol.  ii.  note  to  p.  618. 

2  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle  are  doubtful  whether  this  picture  is  by  Fra 
Filippo  at  all,  and  see  in  it  traces  of  the  handiwork  of  Benozzo  Gozzoli, 
Vol.  ii.  p.  350. 

3  No.  248,  note.  "The  Saint,  dressed  in  white,  is  represented  writing 
his  homilies  at  a  desk  placed  on  a  table  formed  of  the  solid  rock.  On  the 
desk  is  some  paper  and  a  leathern  ink  bottle  ;  by  his  side  are  some  books. 
The  Virgin,  surrounded  by  angels,  appears  before  him." 


FKA  FILIPPO  LIPPI.  61 

SO  highly  esteemed  by  his  Majesty  Alfonso,  and  offering 
him  another  by  the  same  artist.  ^ 

This  commerce  of  pictures  between  Florence  and  Naples 
accounts  for  those  paintings  which  Era  Filippo  Lippi  is  said 
to  have  executed  during  his  supposed  residence  at  Naples 
and  Ancona  after  his  deliverance  from  slavery  in  Barbary 
(1432-9).  It  is  now  estnblished,  by  documents  proving  his 
continued  residence  in  Tuscany  at  that  period,  that  the 
artist  was  never  at  either  town ;  and  we  learn  with  regret 
that  the  story  of  his  having  obtained  his  freedom  by  a 
clever  sketch  in  charcoal  of  his  master,  is  a  fiction. 

Besides  the  powerful  support  of  the  Medici,  Fra  Filippo 
had  other  patrons  among  the  great  families  in  Florence 
and  its  vicinity.  In  Arezzo  we  read  of  a  certain  Carlo 
Marzuppini,  who  commissioned  him  to  paint  the  altar- 
piece  for  the  Cappella  S.  Bernardo  in  Monte  Oliveto  of 
Arezzo. 

Yasari  records  ^  that  "  Messer  "  Carlo  found  fault  with  the 
artist  for  the  careless  way  in  which  he  had  painted  the 
hands  of  his  figures,  and  adds  that  in  consequence  of  this 
remark  Fra  Filippo  ever  afterwards  concealed  the  extremities 
of  his  figures  with  drapery. 

The  artist  introduced  the  portrait  of  his  critical  patron 
into  the  picture,  which  is  now  in  the  Galleria  Lateranense 
at  Rome.  It  is  said  by  competent  critics,  who  have  seen 
it  there,  that  Messer  Carlo  had  some  ground  for  his 
complaints.^ 

The  portrait  of  another  patron,  Messer  Alessandro  degli 
Alessandri,  is  introduced  among  the  figures  in  an  altar-piece 
painted  for  his  chapel  at  Yincigliati.  This  picture  was  for- 
merly in  the  Palazzo  Strozzi,  at  Florence. 

Fra  Filippo  painted,  besides  these,  numerous  other  pictures 

^  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  vol.  ii.  p.  328. 

2  Yasari,  ed.  1878-9,  pp.  618,  619. 

'  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  vol.  ii.  p.  326. 


62  THE   SUCCESSOES   OF  ERA  ANGELICO. 

for  the  churches  and  convents  in  Florence.  Many  of  them 
have  now  found  their  way  into  the  galleries  at  Florence ; 
among  these : — 

The  Nativity  of  Christ,  with  a  choir  of  angels  singing  the 
"  Gloria,"  and  a  background  of  rocks  and  caverns,  into  which 
are  introduced  figures  of  S.  Mary  Magdalen,  S.  Jerome,  and 
another  hermit,  supposed  to  be  a  portrait. 

A  beautiful  Madonna  with  four  Saints,  the  best  of  his 
sacred  pictures. 

The  large  Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  originally  painted 
for  the  nuns  of  S.  Ambrogio,  in  which  his  own  portrait 
as  an  old  man  appears,  while  an  angel  in  front  of  him 
holds  a  scroll  on  which  is  written,  "  Is  perfecit  opus.^^  (See 
Illustration.) 

The  Predella  of  the  Santo  Spirito,  which  we  have  already 
mentioned. 

One  of  his  finest  Madonnas  is  in  the  Pitti  Palace,  which, 
although  not  vulgar,  is  of  that  essentially  earthly  type 
which  characterises  all  Fra  Filippo's  Madonnas.  In  all  the 
accessories  it  also  marks  a  deviation  from  the  principle 
of  devotion  which  had  hitherto  guided  the  treatment  of 
this  subject.^ 

But  although  the  Italian  critics  select  for  especial  praise 
his  smaller  pictures,  on  account  of  their  graceful  execution 
and  the  soft  delicacy  of  their  colouring,  he  derives  another 
kind  of  fame  from  his  frescoes  at  Prato  and  Spoleto.  His 
first  work  in  the  cathedral  was  a  picture  representing  the 
Death  of  S.  Bernard,  painted  to  fill  the  space  above  one  of 
the  side  doors.  In  the  centre  of  the  painting  the  saint  is 
represented   lying  in   his  coffin,  which   is   supposed  to  heal 

^  **  It  is  a  circular  picture  representing  the  half  length  Virgin  seated  in 
a  chair  with  the  infant  Saviour,  all  but  naked,  on  her  knee.  In  her  left 
hand  she  holds  a  pomegranate  which  the  Saviour  grasps  with  his  right, 
whilst,  looking  up,  he  holds  a  few  of  the  red  grains  in  his  left." — Crowe 
and  Cavalcaselle,  vol.  ii.  p.  333. 


f  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

CALIFC; 


THE  CORONATION   OF  THE 
In  the  Accademia  dell 


5IN.      BY    FILIPPO   LIPPI. 
?  Arti,  at  Florence, 


FRA  FILIPPO  LIPPI.  63 

all  the  sick  who  approach  to  touch  it.  Round  it  stand  a 
group  of  weeping  friars,  among  whom  Fra  Filippo  intro- 
duced his  own  portrait.  The  expression  of  the  heads  is 
admirable,  and  the  fresh  and  delicate  colouring  in  the  artist's 
best  style. 

This  work  gave  such  satisfaction  to  the  superintendent  of 
the  cathedral,  Geminiano  Inghirami,  for  whom  it  was  painted, 
that  it  obtained  for  Fra  Filippo  the  commission  to  paint  the 
frescoes  in  the  choir.  He  chose  two  subjects,  the  life  of  S. 
John  the  Baptist,  the  patron  saint  of  Florence,  under  whose 
rule  Prato  fell ;  and  that  of  S.  Stephen,  the  saint  to  whom 
the  Church  or  "  Pieve  "  (for  it  was  not  then  a  cathedral)  was 
dedicated. 

The  scenes  selected  from  the  life  of  S.  John  the  Baptist 
were — (1)  his  Birth;  (2)  Parting  from  his  Parents;  (3)  his 
Preaching  in  the  Wilderness  ;  (4)  the  Baptism  of  our  Saviour  ; 
(5)  Herod's  Feast ;  and  (6)  the  Decapitation  of  the  Baptist. 

The  Preaching  in  the  Wilderness  and  Herod s  Feast  are  con- 
sidered to  be  the  most  remarkable  of  this  series.  In  the 
first,  Fra  Filippo  succeeds  in  giving  a  look  of  almost  divine 
inspiration  to  the  countenance  of  the  preacher,  while  the 
listening  crowd  exhibit  every  variety  of  expression  and  atti- 
tude as  they  hang  upon  his  words.  The  same  talent  for 
varying  the  expression  and  attitude  of  his  figures  finds  full 
scope  in  Herod's  Feasty  which  is  represented  with  much 
splendour,  and  again  the  artist  introduces  his  own  portrait, 
dressed  in  his  friar's  dress,  among  the  guests.  These  are 
clad  in  the  costumes  of  the  period,  richly  ornamented  and 
embroidered,  with  the  Florentine  head-dress  of  the  period. 
The  dismay  of  the  guests  when  the  decapitated  head  is 
brought  in  is  admirably  rendered. 

The  frescoes  representing  the  life  of  S,  Stephen  occupy 
the  opposite  side  of  the  choir.  In  the  last  of  these — the 
Lamentation  over  the  Death  of  S.  Stephen — is  considered 
almost  equal  to  Raphael  in  the  varied  attitudes  and  motion 


64  THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  FRA  ANGELICO. 

of  his  figures.  Among  the  bystanders  he  introduced  por- 
traits of  himself,  Era  Diamante,  and  Carlo  de'  Medici,  a  very- 
powerful  and  unmistakable  portrait.  All  the  figures  are 
larger  than  life,  a  practice  which  was  afterwards  much 
adopted  by  succeeding  artists. 

The  decoration  of  the  choii*  at  Prato,  often  interrupted  by 
other  commissions,  was  not  completed  till  the  year  1465. 
To  the  same  period  belong  the  altar-pieces  for  the  churches 
of  Sta.  Margherita  and  San  Domenico  at  Prato,  and  others, 
which  have  now  found  their  way  into  the  museum  there. 
The  frescoes  at  Spoleto,  representing  scenes  from  the  Life  of 
the  Virgin,  were  on  the  same  grandiose  scale.  They  were 
painted  in  the  apse  of  the  cathedral.  Pra  Filippo  was 
never  able  to  complete  them;  dying  suddenly,  it  is  said, 
from  poison,  in  1469.  He  was  buried  in  the  cathedral 
at  Spoleto,  in  the  midst  of  his  unfinished  labours. 

Pra  Pilippo  was  looked  upon  as  the  greatest  colourist  of 
his  age,  especially  in  wall  painting,  where  he  succeeded  in 
giving  great  charm  to  his  colouring.  He  was  a  powerful 
and  rapid  draughtsman,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
technicalities  of  his  art,  although,  partly  on  account  of  the 
indolence  of  his  nature,  he  had  a  tendency  to  generalise  the 
drawing  of  the  hands  and  feet  of  his  figures.  Although  he 
formed  his  style  upon  Masaccio,  he  never  attained  to  his 
master's  serious  and  dignified  treatment  of  his  subjects;  a 
certain  coarseness  of  thought  and  a  want  of  spirituality  mar 
paintings  which  would  be  otherwise  full  of  grace.  He  has 
also  the  unenviable  distinction  of  being  the  first  among  the 
artists  to  introduce  a  wilful  irreverence  into  his  treatment 
of  sacred  subjects,  one  of  the  first  steps  which  led  to  the 
final  desecration  of  religious  art.  His  method  of  dealing 
with  drapery  will  serve  as  an  illustration  of  this ;  which,  in 
his  hands,  underwent  a  complete  transformation,  consistent 
with  the  realising  tendency  of  the  time.  He  attempted  the 
imitation  of  texture  and  material,  a  practice  hitherto   un- 


FRA  FILIPPO  LIPPI.  65 

known  among  the  artists ;  and  it  is  a  painful  shock  to 
devotional  feeling  when  he  introduces  the  costume  of  the 
day  into  the  most  sacred  scenes,  clothing  the  angels  in  the 
Florentine  garb,  and  exchanging  the  ideal  drapery  of  the 
Virgin  for  the  same  realistic  style.  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 
tells  us  that  "  it  is  the  inferior  style  that  marks  variety  of 
stuffs ;  in  the  grand  style  the  clothing  is  neither  woollen  nor 
linen,  nor  silk  nor  satin,  nor  velvet — it  is  drapery,  and 
nothing  more." 

The  immediate  followers  and  pupils  of  Era  Filippo  were — 
Fra  Diamante,  who  assisted  him  in  the  frescoes  at  Prato  and 
Spoleto.  He  also  painted  two  or  three  altar-pieces  at  Prato, 
and  the  latest  commentary  has  assigned  to  him  a  fresco  in 
the  Sistine  Chapel  of  Our  Saviour  giving  the  Keys  to  S.  Peter, 
hitherto  said  to  be  by  Fra  Bartolomjneo  della  Gatta.^ 

Jacopo  del  Sellajo  was  another  pupil  and  assistant,  but  of 
his  works  little  is  known.  Francesco  Peselli  and  Sandro 
Eotticelli  were  pupils  of  considerably  more  mark,  and  will 
find  their  place  in  succeeding  chapters. 


THE  PRINCIPAL  WORKS  OF  FILIPPO  LIPPL 

BERLIN.  Museum. 

Madonna  and  Child. 
Madonna  adoring  the  Infant  Christ,  with  S.  John  and  S.  Bernard 

{signed  fkater  philippvs.  p). 
The  Virgin  of  Mercy. 

FLOEENCE.     Accademiadelle  Belle  Arti. 

Madonna  and  Saints  {from  Santa  Croce,  Florence  :  the  predella  is  by 

Pesellino). 
Coronation  of  the  Virgin  {signed  is.  perfecit.  opus  ;  from  Sani 
Ambrosia,  Florence). 

I  Vasaxi,  ed.  1878-9,  p.  641. 
P  F  A  P' 


6Q  THE  SUCCESSOES  "OF  ERA  ANGELICO. 

FLORENCE.    Acoademia  delle  Belle  Arti  {continued). 

Predella,  Annunciation,  and  three  other  scenes  {from  the  Convent  of 
Santo  Sjpirito,  Florence  .-predella  of  the  **  Virgin  and  Child"  in 
the  Louvre). 
Virgin  adoring  the  Infant  Christ,  with  the  Magdalen,  S.  Jerome 

and  S.  Hilarion  {from  the  Church  of  the  Annalena,  Florence). 
Virgin  and  Child,  with  S.  John  the  Baptist  and  a  Camaduline 
Monk  {from  the  Convent  of  the  Camalduli). 

Uffizi. 
S.  Augustin.     (^^  Certainly  not  by  Fra  Filippo,  but  is  either  by 

Filippino  or  Botticelli." — Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle.    *'  Certainly  by 

Filippino." — Burckhardt's  "  Cicerone.") 
Virgin  adoring  the  Infant  Christ,  with  Angels  {the  drawing  for  this 

is  also  in  the  Uffizi). 

PiTTi  Palace. 
Madonna  and  Child  {The  Madonna  is  said  to  be  a  portrait   of 
Lucrezia  Buti). 

San  Loeenzo. 
Annunciation. 

Chiesa  degli  Innocenti. 
Virgin  and  Child,  with  Saints  {similar  to  the  picture  in  the  Uffizi). 

LONDON".        National  Gallery. 
The  Vision  of  S.  Bernard. 
Madonna  and  Child  enthroned,  surrounded  by  Angels  and  Saints 

{said  to  be  from  Santo  Spirito,  Florence.     ^*  It  bears  the  stamp  of 

the  school   of   Fra,   Filippo,  with   a   mixture   of   characteristic 

features  peculiar  to  the  manner  of  Benozzo  Gozzoli." — Crowe  and 

Cavalcaselle). 
The  Virgin  Mary  seated,  an  Angel  presenting  the  Infant  Christ  to 

her.     {^*Its  style  shows  it  to  be  by  one  vjho  issued  from  the  school 

of  the  Carmelite." — Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle.) 
The  Annunciation  {painted  for  Cosmo  de'  Medici). 
S.  John  the  Baptist  with  six  other  Saints  {painted  for  Cosmo  de* 

Medici). 
The  Adoration  of  the  Magi.    {In  the  catalogue  *' ascribed  to  Filippino 

Lippi."    Mr.  J.  A.  Crowe  attributes  it  to  Filip)po.) 

MUNICH.  PiNAKOTHEK. 

The  Annunciation. 
Madonna  and  Child. 


FILIPPINO  LIPPI.  67 

PARIS.  LouvRK. 

The  Nativity  {from  the  church  of  S.  Margherita,  Prato.    Crowe  arid 

Cavalcaselle  consider  that  it  is  probably  by  Francesco  Peselli). 
The  Virgin  and  Child  [from  Santo  Spirito,  Florence). 

PRATO.  San  Domenico.     In  the  Refectory. 

The  Infant  Christ  adored  by  the  Virgin  and  Saints. 

Cathedral. 
Life  of  S.  John  the  Baptist. 
Ijife  of  S.  Stephen. 
Death  of  S.  Bernard. 

Gallery. 
The  Virgin  giving  the  Girdle  to  S.  Thomas  {perhaps  painted  for 

Santa  Margherita,  Prato). 
The  Virgin  and  Saints  and  four  poor  members  of  the  Ceppo. 
Predella  [said  to  be  that  of  the  Nativity  in  the  Louvre). 

ROME.  Lateran  Gallery. 

Coronation  of  the  Virgin  {painted  for  Carlo  Marzappini). 

Palazzo  Doria. 
The  Annunciation. 

SPOLETO.        Cathedral. 

Scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin  {completed  by  Fra  Diamante  in 
1470). 

TURIN.  Gallery. 

Two  Bishops. 


riLIPPINO  LIPPI.    Born  1460.     Died  1504. 

The  birth  of  Pilippino  di  Pilippo  Lippi  is  enveloped  in 
hopeless  obscurity.  Unfortunately  his  registry  in  the  guild 
of  the  Florentine  painters  is  illegible.  Yasari  tells  us  that 
he  died  in  1505,  aged  forty-five.  That  would  place  his  birth 
in  1460 — a  date  given  by  many  writers.  Others  give  1461, 
and  some  1458. 

The  story  of  his  being  a  son  of  Pilippo  Lippi  has  long  been 
dismissed.     That  he  was  a  favourite  pupil  of  the  Frate  is 

F  2 


68  THE    SUCCESSORS   OF   ERA   ANGELICO. 

probable,  and  an  adopted  son  or  a  relative  of  some  degree 
quite  possible.  Apart  from  the  commissions  he  received  for 
paintings,  and  the  dates  on  his  works,  we  have  but  scanty 
records  of  his  life.     He  was  educated  at  Prato. 

In  1496  he  and  Perugino  and  Cosimo  Rosselli  were  called 
upon  to  value  Baldovinetti's  fresco  in  the  Gianfigliazzi  chapel 
in  Santa  Trinita,  Florence.  And  in  the  following  year  he 
married  :  his  wife's  name  was  Margherita :  his  son  Francesco 
became  a  friend  of  Benvenuto  Cellini. 

In  1498  Filippino  was  appointed,  with  Perugino  and 
Lorenzo  di  Credi,  a  member  of  the  committee  to  decide  on  the 
best  means  of  repairing  the  damage,  done  by  a  storm,  to  the 
lantern  above  the  cupola  of  Santa  Maria  del  Fiore,  Florence. 
In  1501  we  find  him  mentioned,  by  a  member  of  the  Town 
Council  of  Prato,  as  a  "fit  person"  to  paint  a  picture  for 
the  audience  chamber  of  the  Palazzo  Pubblico.  And  the  last 
record  we  have  of  him,  previous  to  his  death,  is  on  the 
25th  of  January,  1504  (the  year  of  his  death),  when  he,  with 
Leonardo  da  Yinci,  Perugino,  Ghirlandajo,  and  others,  was 
called  upon  to  decide  on  a  fitting  place  for  Michelangelo's 
David.  And  it  was  Filippino  who  made  the  most  practical 
suggestion,  that  as  Michelangelo  had  made  the  statue,  he 
should  be  asked  to  say  what  site  it  should  occupy. 

The  instruction  in  art  of  Filippino  Lippi  was  confided  to 
the  care  of  Sandro  Botticelli  and  Fra  Diamante. 

Of  these  two  teachers,  Filippino  seems  to  have  been  most 
guided  by  the  style  of  Fra  Diamante.  Many  years  of  work 
under  Fra  Filippo  had  thoroughly  imbued  Fra  Diamante 
with  his  master's  manner,  hence  the  indelible  stamp  of  the 
Frate  which  appears  in  Filippino's  works.  But  Filippino 
was  free  from  many  of  the  defects  which  are  blots  upon  the 
paintings  of  the  Carmelite  artist.  He  is  never  coarse  or 
vulgar  in  his  treatment  of  sacred  subjects,  and  was  far  better 
able  to  appreciate  the  grandeur  of  Masaccio's  manner  when 
called  upon  to  complete  the  painting  of  the  frescoes  in  the 


9  L I  B  K  A  K  J 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

OALIFOUN 


THE   MARTYRDOM    OF   ST.    PETER. 

BY  FILIPPINO   LIPPI.      In  the  Brand 


ST.    PETER   AND    ST.    PAUL   BEFORE   THE   PROCONSUL. 
I,  in  Santa  Maria  del  Carmine,  Florence. 


(\^ 


3^ 


V^^^ 


:^l^^ 


riLiPPiNO  Lippi.  69 

"'Jrancacci  Chapel/  which  had  remained  unfinished  since 
Masaccio  abandoned  them  fifty-eight  years  before.  Here  he 
shows  himself  fully  capable  of  grasping  the  serious  dignity  of 
Masaccio's  style.  Although  not  quite  equal  to  the  great  master 
either  in  the  clearness  of  his  colours,  or  in  the  distribution 
of  his  groups,  some  of  the  individual  figures  are  magnificent ; 
if  we  take,  for  example,  that  of  S.  Paul  standing  before  the 
prison  of  S.  Peter,  which  was  afterwards  adopted  with  little 
alteration  by  Paphael  in  his  famous  cartoon. 

The  Visit  of  S.  Paul  to  S.  Peter  in  Prison  and  the  Libera- 
tion of  S.  Peter  occupy  the  two  pilasters  of  the  chapel,  and 
were  his  first  composition  there.  The  next,  of  SS.  Pe^er  and 
Paul  before  the  Proconsuly  although  the  figures  are  noble  and 
dignified,  shows  the  failure  in  distributing  his  groups,  and  the 
same  fault  appears  in  the  Crucifixion  of  S.  Peter.  The  last 
fresco  was  the  Resurrection  of  the  King's  Son,  left  incomplete 
by  Masaccio.  Filippino's  work  in  this  painting  comprised 
the  youth  himself,  painted  from  a  portrait  of  the  painter 
Granacci,  and  the  figures  of  the  surrounding  group ;  among 
them,  the  artist  introduced  portraits  of  the  historian 
Guicciardini,  Luigi  Pulci  the  poet,  Antonio  Pollaiuolo,  a 
contemporary  artist,  and  many  others. 

His  fame  as  an  artist  being  undeniably  established  by  the 
completion  of  this  task,  Filippino  received  numerous  com- 
missions. The  archives  of  Florence  record  that  he  was  chosen 
(in  1492)  to  replace  Perugino,  then  absent  at  Rome,  in  the 
adornment  of  the  hall  of  the  Palazzo  Pubblico.  It  is  not 
known  whether  or  not  he  performed  this  office,  but  we  do 
know  that  about  this  period  he  finished  the  great  painting 
of  the  Madonna  and  Saints  in  the  Uffizi,  originally  intended 

1  S.  Peter  in  Prison  visited  by  S.  Paul,  and  S.  Peter  freed  from  Prison  ; 
SS.  Peter  and  Paul  before  the  Proconsul ;  the  Crucifxion  of  S.  Peter ; 
the  Resuscitation  of  the  King^s  Son  (begun  by  Masaccio).  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9, 
vol.  iii.  pp.  479  et  seq.  See  also  p.  488  et  seq.  for  the  new  commentary,  in 
which  Filippino  is  undoubtedly  proved  to  have  finished  these  frescoes. 


70  THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  FKA  ANGEUCO. 

for  the  Sala  degli  Otto  in  the  Palazza  Pubblico.  This 
picture  was  only  rivalled  by  the  altar-piece  painted  by 
him  in  the  Badia  at  Florence ;  which,  executed  when  he  was 
only  twenty  years  old,  is  always  considered,  for  drawing, 
expression,  and  vigorous  colour,  the  best  type  of  his  early 
manner.  Fra  Filippo's  treatment  of  the  same  subject, 
the  Vision  qf  S.  Bernard  (now  in  our  National  Gallery),  is 
very  different.  The  altar-piece  of  the  Cappella  Nerli  in  the 
Santo  Spirit©  at  Florence  belongs  also  to  Filippino's  prime. 

His  next  commission  was  from  Rome,  where  he  was  sum- 
moned by  Cardinal  Olivieri  Caraffa,  to  paint  the  Cappella 
Caraffa,  in  Sta.  Maria  sopra  Minerva.^  He  ornamented  this 
chapel  with  scenes  from  the  Legend  of  S.  Thomas  Aquinas ; 
and  although  these  allegorical  and  ceremonial  subjects  were 
not  in  harmony  with  his  genius,  he  showed  a  remarkable 
advance  in  his  power  of  distributing  his  figures  in  the  prin- 
cipal scene,  which  represents  the  Miracle  of  the  Crucifix, 
In  another  episode,  the  Glorification  of  S.  Thomas,  he  gives 
a  marvellous  variety  of  expression  to  the  false  teachers  who 
have  been  confounded  by  the  reasoning  of  the  saint. 

In  another  part  of  the  chapel  he  represents  scenes  from 
the  Life  of  the  Virgin,  but  these  have  been  retouched.  The 
Caraffa  Chapel  was  finished  in  1493.  The  altar-piece  painted 
for  S.  Francesco  del  Palco  at  Prato  belongs  to  about  the 
same  period  (1495).  It  is  still  recorded  how  the  brotherhood  ^ 
intended  the  commission  for  Domenico  Ghirlandajo,  but  could 
not  raise  the  sum  he  required  for  it,  and  therefore  entrusted 
it  to  Filippino.  In  the  following  year  he  painted  for  S. 
Donato  al  Scopeto  at  Florence  an  altar-piece,  the  Adoration 
of  the  Magi,  and  followed  the  pyramidal  form  of  composition 
adopted  by  Fra  Filippo  in  his  treatment  of  the  same  subject. 
Filippino's  composition  is  considered  to  be  the  better  of  the 

1  On  his  journey  to  Eome  he  was  commissioned  by  Lorenzo  de'  Medici 
to  order  on  his  behalf  a  magnificent  tomb  to  be  erected  to  Fra  Filippo  in. 
the  cathedral  at  Spoleto.  ^  Yasari,  ed.  1878-9,  p.  4d7. 


VISION  OF  SAINT   BERNARD.      BY   FILI^IJIO   J^W*  \\     J 
In  the  Church  of  La  Badia,  FloreJicA  -^   ' 


n 


riLipriNO  Lippi.  71 

two,  some  of  Ms  heads  being  little  inferior  to  those  of 
Kaphael. 

Quite  late  in  his  career  he  painted,  for  the  heirs  of  Filippo 
Strozzi,  the  paintings  in ,  the  Strozzi  Chapel,  for  which  he  had 
received  the  commission,  when  at  Rome  in  1489,  from  Filippo 
Strozzi  himself.  The  taste  of  the  decorations  of  the  Strozzi 
Chapel  have  been  called  in  question,  because  of  the  grotesque 
mixture  of  exaggerated  actions,  the  architecture  overcharged 
with  ornament,  and  the  too  brilliant  colouring.  But  these 
faults  are  compensated  for  by  traits  of  great  beauty.  The 
artist's  extraordinary  power  of  representing  emotion  and 
varied  dramatic  action  is  nowhere  more  clearly  shown.  The 
paintings  represent  the  Miracles  of  SS.  JoJm  and  Philip.  In 
one  of  these — the  Resuscitation  of  Drusiana  by  S.  John — he 
succeeds  in  giving  a  wonderful  expression  of  returning  life 
to  Drusiana,  as  she  raises  herself  upon  the  bier,  from  which 
the  bearers  flee  in  terror,  while  a  number  of  women  remain 
in  trembling  attention,  with  children  clinging  to  their  knees. 

The  same  animation  and  movement  appears  in  another  of 
the  series,  in  which  S.  Philip  exorcises  the  Dragon.  The 
figures  are  drawn  with  peculiar  energy  and  ease — the  women 
beautiful,  and  the  men  dignified. 

These  frescoes  are  also  remarkable  for  the  careful  painting 
of  the  accessories — vases,  armour,  head-dresses,  swords,  togas, 
and  sacerdotal  vestments,  of  which  Filippino  made  a  careful 
study,  and  he  was  among  the  first  of  the  artists  who  introduced 
this  new  feature  into  art.  Filippino  died  suddenly  on  April 
18th,  1504.  He  was  universally  beloved  not  only  on  account 
of  his  rare  talents,  but  also  because  of  his  blameless  life,  un- 
failing gentleness  and  courtesy  to  all.  Vasari  records  that 
he  was  carried  to  the  grave  in  the  Church  of  San  Michele 
Bisdomini,  Florence,  with  every  mark  of  public  esteem. 

Among  his  pupils,  Bafaellino  del  Garbo  was  the  one  who 
most  closely  followed  his  master's  manner. 


72  THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  FEA  AlfGELICO. 


THE  PRINCIPAL  WORKS  OF  FILIPPINO  LIPPI. 

BERLIN.  Museum. 

Portrait  of  a  Young  Man. 

Madonna  and  Child. 

Christ  on  the  Cross,  with  the  Virgin  and  S.  Francis. 

Madonna  and  Child. 

BOLOGNA.      San  Domenico. 

Madonna  and  Saints.     1501. 

FLORENCE.     Badia. 

The  Vision  of  S.  Bernard.     1480. 

Santa  Maria  del  Carmine.     In  the  Brancacd  Chapel. 
S.  Peter  in  prison  visited  by  S.  Paul. 
.    S.  Peter  freed  from  prison. 

S.  Peter  and  S.  Paul  before  the  Proconsul. 

Crucifixion  of  S.  Peter. 

Recuscitation  of  the  King's  son  {begun  by  Masaceio). 

Santa  Maria  Novella.  In  the  Chapel  of  Filippo  Strozzi. 
The  Miracles  and  Martyrdom  of  the  Apostles  John  and  Philip. 

ACCADEMIA  DELLE   BeLLE  ArTI. 

Deposition  from  the  Cross  {the  lower  part  by  Ferugino :  from  the 

SS.  Annunziata,  Florence). 
S.  Augustin.    (Attributed  in  the  Catalogue  to  Filippo  Lippi ;  ascribed 

by  Mr,  Crowe  to  Filippino.) 

CoRsiNi  Gallery. 
Virgin  and  Child  with  Saints. 

PiTTi  Palace, 
Holy  Family  with  Angels.    (**  /i5  wants  the  finish  and  feeling  notice- 
able in  Filippin/)." — Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle.) 
The  Death  of  Lucretia. 

Torrigiani  Palace. 
The  Life  of  Esther  {panels  of  a  wedding -chest). 

Sawto  Sfirito.     In  the  Cappella  Nerli. 
Madonna  with  S.  Martin  and  S.  Catherine. 


FILIPPINO  LIPPI.  73 

FLORENCE.     Uffizi. 

Adoration  of  the  Magi  {signed   filippus   me    pinxit    de   lipsis 

FLORENTINUS,  and  dated  1496;  painted  for  San  Donato  al  Scopeto, 

Florence). 
Madonna  and  Child  with  Saints  [painted  in  1485 /or  the  Sala  degli 

Otto  in  the  Palazzo  Signoria,  Florence).  <^ 

S.  Augustin.     {This  work^  though  given  in  the  catalogue  to  Filippo, 

is  hy  several  authorities  attributed  to  Filippino. ) 

LONDON.         National  Gallery. 

The  Virgin  and  Child,  S.  Jerome  and  S.  Dominic  adoring  the  Infant 

Christ    {painted  for  the    Eucellai    Chapel  in  San  Fancrazio, 

Florence). 
Adoration  of  the  Magi  {originally  part  of  a  painted  chest). 
S.  Francis  in  Glory  {dated  mccccxcii). 

LUCCA.  San  Michele. 

Madonna  enthroned  with  Saints. 

MUNICH.  PiNAKOTHEK. 

The  Appearance  of  Christ  to  the  Virgin  {painted  about  1495,  for 

the  Brotherhood  of  S.  Francesco  del  Falco^  at  Prato). 
Pietk  {given  in  the  catalogue  to  Ghirlandajo.    Crowe  and  Cavalcasclle 

consider  that  it  is  by  Filippino). 

PRATO.  Mercatale. 

Madonna  and  Saints  {a  tabernacle), 

ROME.  Santa  Maria  sopra  Minerva.    In  the  Capella  Caraffa. 

Legend  of  S.  Thomas  Aquinas. 

SAN  GIMIGNANO.    Palazzo  Pubblico. 
The  Annunciation. 


CHAPTEK  V. 
BENOZZO  GOZZOLI.    Boen  1420.     Died  1498. 

**  Thou  in  our  wonder  and  astonishment 
Hast  built  thyself  a  life-long  monument." 

BENOZZO  GOZZOLI  was  the  favourite  pupil  and  com- 
panion of  Era  Angelico.  He  was  almost  the  last 
artist  who  represented  the  expiring  school  of  sacred  art  in 
Italy ;  but  even  in  his  case,  the  influence  of  his  master  seems 
only  to  have  guided  the  first  period  of  his  painting.  In  his 
later  works  he  became  a  decided  realist,  using  Scripture  scenes 
and  subjects  chiefly  as  a  means  for  the  representation  of 
luxurious  dress,  animal  life,  and  landscape. 

Benozzo  di  Lese  di  Sandro,  commonly  called  Benozzo  Gozzoli, 
was  born  at  Florence  in  1420  (or,  according  to  his  father's 
income  paper  of  1470,  in  1424).  Gozzoli,  as  we  have  seen, 
accompanied  Era  Angelico  to  Rome,  and  was  his  assistant  in 
decorating  the  cathedral  of  Orvieto  in  1447.  Two  years  later 
he  parted  from  his  master,  and  went  to  seek  his  own  fortune. 
He  first  applied  to  the  Council  of  the  Duomo  at  Orvieto,  for 
the  commission  to  complete  Era  Angelico's  unfinished  work  ; 
but  was  met  by  the  request  to  give  some  proof  of  his  skill. 
In  this  he  would  appear  to  have  been  unsuccessful,  as  he  did 
not  receive  the  commission ;    and  we  next  hear  of  him  at 


BENOZZI  GOZZOLI.  75 

Montefalco,  near  Foligno,  the  scene  of  Fra  Angelico's  early 
works.  Here  his  master's  name  stood  him  in  good  stead,  for 
he  obtained  many  commissions,  and  his  paintings  at  this 
period  show  more  than  any  of  his  other  works  the  impress  of 
his  master's  manner. 

He  painted  some  frescoes  for  the  Church  of  S.  Fortunato, 
about  a  mile  from  the  town ;  a  Virgin  and  Child,  "above  the 
portal,  with  all  the  fresh  purity  of  Fra  Angelico's  colouring  ; 
an  altar-piece  of  aS'.  Thomas  receiving  the  Girdle,  with  a  gradino 
representing  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin  ;  an  Annuncia- 
tion, in  fresco  on  the  walls,  and  an  A'potheosis  of  S.  Fortunate, 
which  has  been  much  repainted.  His  labours  for  the  church 
and  monastery  of  S.  Francesco  in  the  same  town  were  more 
considerable.  The  apse  of  the  church  and  four  sides  of  the 
choir  are  occupied  by  Twelve  Scenes  from  the  Life  of  S.  Francis ; 
and  on  the  base  of  each  of  the  four  sides  are  medallion  por- 
traits of  S.  Francis  and  the  most  illustrious  men  of  his  order. 
Among  these  are  introduced  those  of  Dante,  Petrarch,  and 
Giotto,  ^  with  Latin  inscriptions.  The  whole  work  is  signed 
by  the  painter,  and  dated  1452.^ 

He  remained  at  Montefalco  till  1456,  painting  also  for  the 
Chapel  of  S.  Jerome,  and  a  large  altar-piece  for  a  Perugian 
church,^  still  in  the  manner  of  his  master,  though  he  never 
attains  to  his  excellence. 

In  1457,  Gozzoli  was  summoned  to  Florence  by  Piero  de* 
Medici ;  here  his  paintings  in  the  Palazzo  Picardi  give  evidence 
that  he  was  no  longer  proof  against  the  temptations  of  the 
realistic  school.  His  great  fresco  in  the  chapel,  which  repre- 
sented the  journey  of  the  wise  men  from  their  own  country, 
and  their  return  to  it,  in  one  long  procession  of  figures,  on 

^  Beneath  that  of  Giotto  : — 

"  Pictorum  eximius  Jottus 
fundamentum  et  lux." 

2  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  p.  60.  3  ^^^  \j^  ^\^q  gallery  at  Perugia. 


76  THE    SUCCESSORS   OF   FRA  ANGELICO. 

foot  and  on  horseback,  covered  the  whole  walls  of  the  body  of 
the  building. 

Here  Benozzo  appears  to  have  laid  aside  his  master's  reli- 
gious and  devotional  treatment  of  the  subject,  and  to  have 
adopted  another,  which,  though  full  of  invention  and  variety, 
was  purely  secular.  All  religious  feeling  is  merged  in  the 
gay  and  brilliant  cortege  of  crowned  kings,  knights,  pages, 
and  squires,  horses  with  their  trappings,  leopards,  and  dogs, 
with  a  profusion  of  gold  ornament,  which  with  portraits  in 
the  costume  of  the  time  down  to  the  minutest  details,  make  a 
living  page  out  of  the  history  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

Something  of  his  master's  teaching  reappears  in  the  paint- 
ings of  angels  singing  and  scattering  flowers  as  they  advance, 
which  adorn  the  sanctuary  of  the  choir.  Fra  Angelico's  in- 
fluence is  still  more  evident  in  one  of  the  panel  pictures, 
considered  to  be  Benozzo' s  best  example,  representing  the 
Virgin  Enthroned,  painted  for  the  Compagnia  di  S.  Marco, 
and  now  in  the  National  Gallery.^ 

At  S.  Gimignano  during  the  years  1463-4,  Benozzo  finished 
a  series  of  wall-paintings,  under  the  patronage  of  Domenico 
Strambi,  for  the  Church  of  S.  Agostino,  representing  scenes 
from  the  Life  of  S.  Augustin  ;  and  several  of  the  neighbour- 
ing churches  contain  frescoes  executed  by  him  at  this 
period. 

But  the  scene  of  his  greatest  labours  was  Pisa.  The  Pisans 
were  beginning  to  recover  from  the  calamities  with  which  they 
had  been  overwhelmed  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. Once  more  they  had  leisure  to  think  of  those  arts  of 
peace  which  they  had  been  the  first  to  promote  in  Italy. 
Their  far-famed  Campo  Santo  was  not  complete,  the  north 
wall  was  still  bare,  and  they  entrusted  the  work  of  decorating 
it  to  Benozzo  in  1469.     He  was  at  this  time  past  fifty,  but  so 

^  No.  283.  The  contract  stipulated  that  the  figure  of  the  Virgin  was 
to  he  made  similar  in  mode,  form,  and  ornament  to  The  Virgin  Enthroned^ 
over  the  high  altar  of  S.  Marco,  Florence,  by  Fra  Giovanni  da  Fiesole. 


THE  CAMPO  SANTO  AT  PISA.     (The  North  Side.) 
Showing  the  position  of  Benozzo  Gozzoli's  Frescoes.'   -o     y^ 


\ 


\\> 


^^ 


BENOZZO  GOZZOLI.  77 

passionate  was  his  love  of  art,  so  indefatigable  his  powers, 
that  he  cheerfully  undertook  a  task,  which,  according  to 
Yasari,  was  sufficient  to  scare  a  whole  army  of  painters.^ 

The  frescoes  were  twenty-four  in  number,  but  two  out  of 
the  twenty-four  have  completely  perished.  They  represent 
scenes  from  the  Old  Testament,  beginning  with  Noah, 
and  ending  with  the  Queen  of  Sheba's  visit  to  Solomon. 
The  accompanying  illustration  shows  their  position  on 
the  wall.  On  the  extreme  right  hand  are,  on  the  top,  the 
Fall  of  Jericho  and  David  and  Goliath,  and  underneath 
Aaron's  Bod. 

This  marvellous  series,  in  which  Benozzo  displays  an  end- 
lessly fertile  imagination,  took  sixteen  years  to  accomplish. 
It  has  the  same  features  as  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  in  the 
Palazzo  Riccardi.  Hundreds  of  figures,  rich  colours,  ample 
draperies,  profusion  of  accessories ;  portraits  of  the  great 
people  of  his  time,  Cosimo,  Lorenzo,  and  Giuliano  de'  Medici, 
Poliziano,  and  the  artist  himself  on  horseback,  witnessing  the 
adoration  of  the  eastern  kings  before  the  shrine  at  Bethlehem. 
Perhaps  some  remnant  of  his  master's  spirit  induced  the 
painter  to  introduce  the  portraits  of  the  living  only  as  spec- 
tators, not  as  taking  part  in  the  action  of  the  scene,  as  if  to 
suggest  that  the  scenes  of  sacred  history  belong  to  all  time, 
and  must  pass  before  the  understanding  of  all  mankind.  The 
frescoes  were  executed  in  tempera,  but  owing  to  some  new 
method  employed  by  the  artist,  great  portions  of  the  colouring 
have  perished,  especially  in  the  fresco  of  the  Queen  of  Sheha, 
of  which  scarcely  a  fragment  remains. 

Both  as  a  draughtsman  and  a  colourist,  Benozzo  Gozzoli 
was  more  a  clever  imitator  of  the  masterpieces  of  other 
artists,  than  gifted  with  any  great  original  talent.  But  this 
power  of  imitation,  which  serves  him  up  to  a  certain  point,  in 
lieu  of  scientific  principle,  fails  him  at  critical  moments,  such 
as  the  foreshortening  of  his  figures,  in  which  he  showed  the 
J  Yasari,  ed.  1878-9,  p.  49. 


78  THE  SUCCESSOES  OF  ERA  ANGELICO. 

deficiencies  of  Fra  Angelico's  school ;  and  the  perspective  of 
his  architecture. 

Even  with  this  gigantic  work  in  hand,  Benozzo  found  means 
to  paint  several  other  pictures  in  Pisa ;  The  Apotheosis  of 
Thomas  Aquinas ^  for  the  Duomo ;  ^  the  Virgin  and  S.  Anna  for 
S.  Marta,  now  in  the  Academy  of  Pisa  ;  also  in  the  same 
gallery,  A  Virgin  and  Child,  once  in  S.  Benedetto  a  Ripa  d' 
Arno,  and  another  of  the  same  subject  in  the  Monastery  of 
S.  Anna.  The  Pisans,  as  a  token  of  their  gratitude  for  such 
gigantic  labours  on  their  behalf,  erected  a  tomb  for  him,  in 
the  midst  of  them  in  the  Campo  Santo,  which  they  presented 
to  him,  during  his  lifetime,  in  1478.  The  inscription  in  one 
of  the  frescoes  above  records  that  his  surrounding  works  are 
his  best  monument.  The  frescoes  were  finished  in  1485, 
but  records  prove  Benozzo  to  have  been  alive  in  1496.  He 
died  in  1498,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight. 

Zanobi  Macchiavelli  was  the  chief  pupil  of  Benozzo  Gozzoli. 
They  worked  together  in  the  Campo  Santo ;  he  was  not  an 
artist  of  very  high  powers,  but  his  ability  rather  consisted  in 
imitating  great  models.  He  is  supposed  to  have  painted  the 
Madonna  and  Child  (No.  586),  ascribed  to  Fra  Filippo  Lippi 
in  the  National  Gallery.  In  the  Louvre  the  Coronation  of  the 
Virgin  is  signed  with  his  name,  and  the  date  1473  ;2  and 
there  is  another  painting  of  the  same  subject  in  the  Academy 
of  Pisa.  He  must  not  be  confounded  with  Zanobi  Strozzi, 
a  miniaturist,  and  a  pupil  of  Fra  Angelico. 

Melozzo  da  Forli  has  sometimes  been  confused  with  Benozzo 
Gozzoli.  He  was  a  contemporary  (born  1438,  died  1494),  and 
executed  some  considerable  paintings  in  several  churches  at 
Rome.  Among  these,  an  altar-piece  in  the  Chiesa  degli 
Santi-Apostoli,  representing  the  Ascension,  was  once  a  fine 
painting,  but  only  a  fragment  of  it  is  now  extant.  He  also 
painted  portraits  of  the  Popes  Sixtus  IV.  and  Julius  II.  in 
the  Vatican. 

1  Now  in  the  Louvre.  ^  Ifot  now  exhibited. 


LIBKA  '. 

UN  I  VERS 

^CALLBX 


o 

N 
N 

o 
o 

o 

O    >f 

j-J       ^ 
<      ^ 


BENOZZO  GOZZOLI.  79 

Melozzo  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  protege  of  Federigo 
di  Montef  eltro,  Duke  of  Urbino.  Two  out  of  the  seven  pictures 
painted  by  Melozzo  for  the  Palace  at  Urbino  are  now  in  our 
National  Gallery.  Another  is  in  the  possession  of  Her 
Majesty  the  Queen. 


THE  PEINCIPAL  WORKS  OF  BENOZZO  GOZZOLI. 

FLORENCE.     Palazzo  Riccardi. 

The  journey  of  the  Magi  to  Bethlehem.     1463. 

Uffizi. 
A  predella — Christ    between    S.   John  and    the  Magdalen;   the 
Marriage  of  S.  Catherine  {from  Santa  Croce^  Florence). 

LONDON.        National  Gallery. 

The  Yirgin  and  Child  enthroned  {painted  in  1461  for  the  *  Com- 

pagnia  di  San  Marco y  Florence). 
The  Rape  of  Helen. 

MONTEF ALCO.    San  Foetunato. 

Virgin  and  Child  {painted  about  1450). 

Apotheosis  of  S.  Fortunato        ,,        „        „ 
Annunciation  ,,         ,,         „ 

MONASTEKY   OF  SaN   FrANCESCO. 

Scenes  from  the  Life  of  S.  Francis.     1452.    {In  the  choir.) 
Madonna  and  Saints.     1452.    {In  the  chapel  of  S.  Jerome.) 

PARIS.  Louvre. 

Apotheosis  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  {painted  for  the  Cathedral  at 
Pisa). 

PERUGIA.       Gallery. 

Madonna  and  Child  with  Saints,     opus  benotii  db  floreiia 
mcccclvi. 


80  THE  SUCCESSORS   OF  FKA  ANGELICO. 

riSA.  Campo  Santo. 

Scenes  from  the  Old  Testament  ^  : — 
(i.)  Noah  and  Lis  Family  ;  (ii.)  The  Curse  of  Ham ;  (iii.)  The  building  of  the  Tower 
of  Babel ;  (iv.)  Adoration  of  the  Magi ;  (v.)  Abraham  and  the  worship  of  Baal ;  (vi  ) 
Abraham  and  Lot  in  Egypt ;  (vii.)  Abraham's  Victory  ;  (viii.)  Abraham  and  Ilagar ; 
(ix.)  Sodom  and  the  escape  of  Lot ;  (x.)  Sacrifice  of  Isaac  ;  (xi.)  Marriage  of  Rebecca  ; 
(xii.)  Birth  of  Jacob  and  Esau ;  (xiii.)  Marriage  of  Jacob  and  Rachel,  and  Jacob's 
Dream;  (xiv.)  Meeting  of  Jacob  and  Esau,  and  Rape  of  Dinah  ;  (xv.)  The  Innocence 
of  Joseph;  (xvi.)  Joseph  made  known  to  his  brethren;  (xvii.)  Moses's  first  Miracle; 
(xviii.)  Passage  of  the  Red  Sea;  (xix.)  The  Tables  of  the  Law;  (xx.)  Aaron's  rod; 
(xxi.)  Fall  of  Jericho,  and  David  and  Goliath ;  (xxii.)  The  Queen  of  Sheba's  visit  to 
Solomon.  The  "Destruction  of  Dathan  and  Abiram,"  and  the  "  Death  of  Aaron,"  are 
now  no  longer  existing.     [Painted  from  1469  to  1485.] 

Academy. 
The  Conception  {painted  for  Santa  Marta,  Pisa), 
Virgin  and  Child  with  Saints  {painted  for  S.  Benedetto  a  Bipo 
d'Arno,  Pisa). 

Monastery  of  Santa  Anna. 
Virgin  and  Child,  with  two  Angels. 

ROME.  Lateean  Gallery. 

S.  Thomas  receiving  the  girdle.     On  the  predella,  scenes  from  the 
Life  of  the  Virgin  {from  San  Fortunato,  Montefalco). 

SAN  GIMIGNANO.    Sant'  Agostino. 
S.  Sebastian.     1464. 

Scenes  from  the  Life  of  S.  Augustin  {seventeen  scenes,  from  his 
school-days  to  his  death),     1463-4. 

PlEVE. 

Martyrdom  of  S.  Sebastian.     1465. 

Madonna  {painted  in  1466  for  S.  Maria  Magdalena  in  San  Gimi- 
gnano). 

Sant'  Andrea  {near  San  Gimignano). 
Madonna  and  Saints  {signed  and  dated  1466). 

TERNI.  San  Francesco. 

Marriage  of  S.  Catherine  {signed  aiid  dated  1466). 


^  Arranged  in  the  order  given  by  Crowe  and   Cavalcaselle,  vol.  II. 
page  510,  et  seq. 


CHAPTEE,  VI. 

OIL  PAINTING  IN  FLOEENCE. 

ANDREA   DEL   CASTAGNO.      DOMENICO  VENEZIANO. 
PESELLO  AND  PESELLINO. 


LIBK.. 
UN  I  VERS 

GAUFOilN 


BALDOVINETTI. 


ANDREA  DEL  CASTAGNO,  and  Domenico  Yeneziano, 
have  hitherto  been  as  inseparably  coupled  together  in 
history,  as  Ugolino  and  his  enemy  the  Archbishop  Ruggiero 
in  Dante's  Inferno-,^  and  for  the  same  reason — one  being 
supposed  to  have  been  the  victim  of  the  treachery  of  the 
other. 

The  much  vexed  question  of  the  introduction  of  oil-painting 
into  Italy  is  founded  on  this  story,  which  is  as  follows,  in 
the  first  edition  of  Yasari.  Domenico  Yeneziano,  •  when 
in  Yenice  learnt  the  secret  of  oil-painting  from  Antonello 
da  Messina,  to  whom  it  had  been  communicated  by  Jan 
van  Eyck  in  Flanders.  Domenico  Yeneziano  brought  this 
new  invention  to  Florence,  where  he  astonished  the  artists  by 
the  brilliancy  of  his  colouring. 

Andrea  del  Castagno,  the  friend  of  Domenico,  persuaded 
him  to  impart  the  secret  of  his  method,  and  then  murdered 
him.     Two    motives    are    alleged  for    this   atrocious  crime, 
jealous   of   the    superiority   of   Dome- 
a    work     they     were     simultaneously 
^  Canto  xxxii.  1.  15. 


First,   that   he   was 
nico's    painting    in 


P  F  A 


82  THE  SUCCESSORS   OF  ERA  ANGELICO. 

engaged  upon,  in  the  church  of  Sta.  Maria  Nuova ;  secondly, 
that  he  wished  to  remain  the  sole  possessor  of  the  marvellous 
discovery. 

This  story,  universally  accepted  hitherto,  has  been  re- 
examined by  Signor  Milanesi,  the  great  modern  authority  on 
Italian  art.  ^ 

In  his  new  gloss  upon  Yasari  we  find  the  conclusive 
argument  that,  as  Domenico  Veneziano  survived  Andrea  del 
Castagno  four  years,  he  could  not  have  fallen  a  victim  to  the 
jealousy  of  his  fellow  artist  in  the  way  Yasari  describes. ^ 

It  is  further  stated  that  the  reason  for  this  supposed 
jealousy  was  also  unfounded,  as  the  two  painters  did  not 
work  simultaneously  in  Sta.  Maria  iJiTuova,  Domenico' s 
frescoes  being  finished  in  1445,  six  years  before  Andrea 
began  his  share  of  the  decoration  of  the  choir. 

The  learned  commentator  can  only  account  for  the  imputa- 
tion which  has  for  four  centuries  stained  the  fame  of  Andrea 
del  Castagno,  by  suggesting,  that  in  1448,  one  Domenico  di 
Matteo,  a  painter,  was  murdered  in  Florence  by  an  enemy, 
who  might  possibly  have  been  another  painter,  Andrea  di 
Matteo,  who  died  in  1457.  The  works  both  of  Andrea  del 
Castagno  and  Domenico  Yeneziano  in  Sta.  Maria  Nuova  have 
perished ;  but  other  works  remain  to  prove  that  both  of  them 
were  painters  of  considerable  merit. 

It  remains  a  disputed  point  whether  the  Florentine 
artists  did  derive  the  secret  of  oil  painting  from  Domenico 
Yeneziano. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  in  the  list  of  expenses  for  painting 
the  frescoes  in  Sta.  Maria  Nuova,  there  are  items  of  linseed 
oil  supplied  in  large  quantities  to  Messer  Domenicho  di  Yine- 

^  Ann.  1862.  Gennaio-Marzo,  p.  1.  The  question  was  first  opened  in 
the  Criornale  Storico  degli  ArcMvi  Toscani. 

2  Andrea  del  Castagno  died  in  1457,  Domenico  Yeneziano  in  1461, 
according  to  the  records  of  the  Libri  dei  Morti  in  Florence.  Vasari, 
ed.  1878-9,  pp.  683,  689. 


OIL  PAINTING  IN  FLORENCE.  83 

zia  ;*  but,  on  the  other  hand,  those  who  have  examined  his 
painting  now  ia  the  Church  of  Sta.  Lucia  de'  Bardi  declare 
that  it  is  painted  in  tempera,  with  no  trace  of  oil;  from 
which  two  things  it  would  appear  that  in  employing 
linseed  oil  to  temper  his  colours  for  fresco  painting  he  was 
only  following  a  practice  which  had  been  frequently  adopted 
before,  but  that  in  panel  painting  he  either  could  not  or 
would  not  use  it. 

The  question  as  to  the  use  of  oil  as  a  vehicle  in  painting 
has  been  discussed  with  vehemence  by  all  the  great  writers 
on  art,  both  as  to  the  exact  date  when  it  was  first  intro- 
duced, and  the  method  in  which  it  was  used  by  the  artists. 
The  result  of  their  deliberations  would  appear  to  be  as 
follows  : — Linseed  oil  was  no  doubt  used  in  painting  as 
early  as  the  eleventh  century.  We  find  frequent  mention 
made  of  it  in  the  writings  of  the  Monk  Rugerius,  or 
Theoplulus,  called  Th&  Schedule  of  Different  Arts.  Thirty 
out  of  the  forty  chapters  of  this  most  interesting  work 
refer  to  the  preparation  and  application  of  pigments  both 
for  oil,  tempera,  and  fresco  painting. ^  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, used  by  Giunta  and  his  contemporaries,  although  their 
paintings  have  a  certain  brilliancy  of  colouring  very  like  the 
effect  produced  by  oil  painting.  A  careful  chemical  analysis 
has  proved  this  brilliancy  to  be  derived  from  wax,  a  vehicle 
much  employed  by  the  Greeks  in  encaustic  painting.^  This 
practice  declined  towards  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  was  succeeded  by  that  of  tempera. 

^  Gfiomale  Storico  degli  Arch.  Toscani,  1862.     Gennaio-Marzo,  p.  6. 

*  Lib.  i.  c.  18,  20,  26,  27.  **And  then  take  the  colours  which  you 
wish  to  lay  on,  rubbing  them  diligently  in  linseed  oil  without  water,  and 
make  mixtures  for  faces  and  drapery  as  before  you  have  made  with  water  ; 
beasts,  too,  and  birds,  or  foliage,  you  will  diversify  with  their  own  colours 
at  your  will." — Cap.  26,  Lib.  i.  p.  45. 

8  "The  colours  were  mixed  with  melted  wax,  and  applied  to  an  ab- 
sorbent ground,  into  which  they  sank.     "When  the  whole  was  finished  a 

g2 


84  THE  SUCCESSORS  OE  ERA  ANGELICO. 

Towards  tlie  middle  o£  the  fifteenth  century  (1437)  we 
find  that  oil  was  used  by  Andrea  Cennini  in  the  background 
of  his  pictures,  both  in  colours  and  gold,  but  not  for  figures. 
There  are  also  many  other  records  of  oil  being  in  common 
use  as  a  medium,  in  England,^  France,  and  Germany  before 
the  time  of  Yan  Eyck. 

The  difference  between  the  old  method  and  that  dis- 
covered by  the  Flemish  painter  may  be  described  as  follows  : 
— According  to  the  old  system,  it  was  impossible  to  put 
another  colour  upon  the  canvas  until  the  first  had  dried. 
On  this  account  the  artist  had  a  practice — which  Theophilus 
describes  as  "  overlong  and  tedious "  ^ — of  exposing  their 
picture  to  the  sun,  and  waiting  till  each  tint  had  separately 
dried.  Yan  Eyck  found  the  extreme  inconvenience  of  this 
method  when  his  panel  cracked  right  across  from  the  heat  of 
the  sun,  and  being  somewhat  of  an  alchemist  as  well  as  a 
painter,  he  bethought  himself  of  composing  colour  with  a 
species  of  oil  and  resin,  which  would  dry  of  itself  without 
exposure  to  the  sun ;  which,  when  dry,  would  not  be  injured 
by  water ;  which  made  the  colours  unite  in  a  way  hitherto 
unknown,  and  gave  them  an  additional  force  and  brilliancy. 
Therefore,  although  Yan  Eyck  cannot  be  said  absolutely  to 
have  invented  the  use  of  oil  in  painting,  he  certainly  brought 
it  to  a  perfection  which  it  had  never  attained  before. 

hot  iron  was  passed  over  it,  which  brought  out  the  colours  to  the  surface. 
This  manner  of  painting  was  extremely  durable,  and  had  the  advantage  of 
not  being  easily  injured  by  damp,  sun,  or  air." — Mrs.  Jameson,  Handbook 
to  the  Public  Galleries  of  Art,  p.  xxvii. 

1  "  The  King  to  his  treasurer  and  chamberlain  sends  greeting  :  Pay  out 
of  our  treasury  to  Odo,  the  goldsmith,  and  Edward  his  son,  117  shillings 
and  10  pence  for  oil,  varnish,  and  colours  bought  by  them,  and  for  paint- 
ings made  in  the  Queen's  chamber  at  Westminster,  to  the  octaves  of  the 
Holy  Trinity  (May  25),  in  the  twenty-third  year  of  our  reign  [1239]  to  the 
Feast  of  S.  Barnabas  (June  11),  in  the  same  year,  that  is,  for  fifteen 
days." — Walpole's  Anecdotes  of  Fainting,  ed.  1828,  vol.  i.  p.  13. 
Lib.  i.  cap.  27,  *'  diutumam  et  tcediosum  nimis." 


OIL  PAINTING  IN  FLOEENCE.  85 

The  new  system  was  first  practised  in  the  south  of  Italy 
by  the  Neapolitan  painters,  and  pre-eminently  by  Antonello 
da  Messina,  who  brought  the  art  to  great  perfection,  and 
carried  it  with  him  to  Venice,  where  the  inscription  on  his 
tombstone  1  gives  him  the  credit  of  having  first  introduced 
the  system  of  oils  into  Italian  painting.  But  he  could  not 
have  imparted  the  secret  to  Domenico  Yeneziano ;  Antonello 
da  Messina  was  only  twice  in  Venice,  once  in  1445,  and  again 
in  1470.^  In  1445  Domenico  was  established  in  Florence ; 
in  1470  he  had  been  dead  some  years.  It  is,  therefore,  still 
uncertain  how  Van  Eyck's  discovery  became  known  to  the 
north  of  Italy.  We  only  know  that,  dating  from  the  close 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  use  of  oil  colours  gradually 
superseded  that  of  tempera  in  the  Italian  School. 

Alesso  Baldovinetti. 

Alesso  Baldovinetti,  the  master  of  Ghirlandajo,  (born  1422, 
died  1499)  and  the  Peselli  are  named  by  Vasari  as  foremost 
among  the  artists  who  made  the  experiment  of  introducing 
oils  and  varnishes  as  vehicles  for  their  colours. 

The  Peselli. 

The  elder  of  the  two  Peselli,  Giuliano  d'Arrigo  di  Giuocolo 
Giuochi,  is  commonly  known  as  "  Pesello."     He  was  born  in 

1  ,  D.  0.  M. 

"This  earth  covers  Antonello  the  painter,  the  chief  ornament  of  his 
native  Messina,  and  of  all  Sicily,  celebrated  for  ever  by  artists  with  the 
highest  praise — ^not  only  for  his  pictures  in  which  there  was  a  singular 
art  and  grace,  but  also  because  he  first,  with  his  colours  mixed  in  oU, 
[gave]  to  Italian  painting  splendour  and  durability," 

2  One  of  the  few  paintings,  by  this  master,  still  extant,  an  Anmmdationf 
is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Right  Hon.  Sir  R.  Phillimore.  The 
picture  is  painted  much  in  the  style  of  Van  Eyck,  in  oils  on  a  wooden 
panel. 


86  THE  SUCCESSOES  OF  ERA  ANGELICOi 

1367  at  Florence.  He  was  in  truth  more  of  a  sculptor  and 
architect  than  a  painter,  being  associated  with  Brunelleschi  in 
the  erection  of  the  cupola  of  Sta.  Maria  del  Fiore.  But  he 
seems  to  have  formed  the  style  of  his  grandson,  Francesco  di 
Stefano,  who  was  born  in  1422  and  was  left  an  orphan  at  the 
age  of  five ;  he  was  brought  up  as  an  artist  by  his  grand- 
father, and  was  called,  in  consequence,  "  PeseUino." 

Giuliano,  or  "  Pesello,"  was  looked  upon  as  the  best  animal 
painter  of  his  time.  Pesellino's  finest  work,  although  not 
executed  according  to  the  new  method,  was  the  predella 
for  Fra  Filippo's  Santa  Croce  altar-piece.  This  predella 
has  now  been  divided  into  five  pieces,  of  which  three  are 
in  the  Accademia  in  Florence,  and  two  in  the  Louvre. 

The  works  of  the  Peselli,  even  when  taken  together,  were  not 
numerous.  Pesello  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  (1446), 
and  was  buried  in  the  Carmine.  PeseUino  died  young,  at  the 
age  of  thirty-five,  in  1457,  only  surviving  his  grandfather 
eleven  years. 


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CHAPTEE,  YII. 

THE  GOLDSMITH  PAINTERS  OF  FLORENCE. 

THE  POLLAIUOLI.      SANDRO  BOTTICELLI.      DOMENICO  GHIRLANDAJO. 
IL  VEEROCCHIO. 

* '  L'antica  gloria  e'l  celebrate  onore, 
Chi  non  sa  della  Medica  famiglia 
E  del  gran  Cosmo,  Italico  splendore 
Di  cui  la  patria  sua  si  chiam6  figlia." 

PoLiziANO,  Stanze  per  la  giostra  di  Giuliarw 
de'  Medici,  Lib.  ii.  §  2. 

THE  POLLAIUOLI. 

THE  great  affinity  "whicli  always  existed  among  the  Flo- 
rentines between  the  painter  and  the  goldsmith  is  best 
illustrated  by  the  group  of  artists  by  whom  this  early  period 
of  the  Renaissance  is  closed — the  PoUaiuoli,  Sandro  Botticelli, 
Domenico  Ghirlandajo,  and  II  Yerrocchio. 

Antonio  and  Piero  del  Pollaiuolo  were  sons  of  Jacopo 
d'Antonio,  a  poulterer  according  to  some  biographers,  hence 
the  origin  of  the  name;  a  goldsmith  according  to  others, 
hence  the  origin  of  their  profession.  However  that  may  be, 
Antonio  del  Pollaiuolo  (born  1429,^  died  1498)  began  his  career 
as  a  goldsmith,  a  modeller,  and  a  carver  in  wood  and  metal. 
He  was  first  of  all  apprenticed  to  Bartoluccio,  the  stepfather 
of  Lorenzo  Ghiberti,  and  after  that  worked,  it  is  said,  under 
*  1433  and  other  dates  are  also  giver. 


88  THE   SUCCESSORS   OF  ERA  ANGELICO. 

the  great  Lorenzo  himself,  as  an  assistant  in  the  second  bronze 
gate  of  the  Baptistery. 

It  is  said  that  Lorenzo,  when  at  one  time  engaged  upon  a 
particular  group  of  ornament  in  this  gate,  left  it  to  Antonio 
to  finish,  who  thereupon  introduced  a  quail  of  such  perfect 
workmanship  "that  it  only  lacked  the  power  of  flying."  i 

As  soon  as  his  term  of  apprenticeship  expired,  Antonio 
opened  a  shop  as  goldsmith  in  the  "  Mercato  Nuovo,"  Florence, 
where  he  rivalled  Maso  Finiguerra,  the  best  modellist  of  the 
time,  in  the  beauty  and  variety  of  his  works,  both  in 
chiselled  bronze,  silver  and  gold,  representing  all  sorts  of 
figures  and  ornaments.  The  dossale,  an  elaborate  silver 
altar  for  the  church  of  S.  Giovanni,  is  selected  as  a  particular 
instance  of  this  elaborate  and  beautiful  kind  of  workmanship. 
It  was  engraved  in  low  relief  with  incidents  from  the  Life  of 
S.  John  the  Baptist,  culminating  with  the  Feast  of  Herod  and 
the  Dance  of  the  Daughter  of  Herodias.  It  is  still  preserved  in 
the  cathedral,  and  exhibited  every  year  on  the  festival  of  the 
saint.''  He  also  supplied  the  altar  with  a  silver  cross  and 
candlesticks  of  magnificent  proportions. 

Besides  these,  and  many  other  works  of  the  same  kind, 
with  which  he  embellished  the  churches  of  Florence,  his 
talents  ministered  to  the  fastidious  taste  of  Lorenzo,  II 
Magnifico.  We.  read  of  a  silver  helmet  carved  by  Antonio, 
and  presented  by  Lorenzo  to  his  general,  Federigo  di  Monte- 
feltro,  after  the  successful  sack  of  Yolterra ;  and  of  a  silver 
basin  furnished  to  the  Signori  in  1473;  but  it,  would  be 
impossible  to  enumerate  the  variety  of  articles,  both  eccle- 
siastical and  secular,  of  exquisite  taste  and  subtle  workman- 
ship, which  issued  from  the  shop  of  the  "  first  goldsmith  of 
the  day,"  as  he  is  named  in  contemporary  records. 

Throughout  his  life  this  branch  of  the  art  absorbed  his 
talents  and  energies.     His  designs  were  so  good  that  Ben- 
venuto  Cellini  testifies  to  their  having  been  used  by  sculptors 
1  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  p.  287.  ^  Ybi^^^  ^ote  to  p.  288. 


THE  GOLDSMITH  PAINTERS  OF  FLORENCE.  89 

and  painters ;  but  his  colouring  was  hard  and  formal,  showing 
the  defects  of  the  goldsmith  training. 

These  faults  are  obvious  in  the  best  specimen  of  his  work, 
now  in  the  National  Gallery.^  This  picture  was  originally 
painted,  in  1475,  as  an  altar-piece  for  the  Pucci  family  in  the 
church  of  San  Sebastiano  dei  Servi  at  Florence,  and  repre- 
sents the  Martyrdom  of  S.  Sebastian.  In  spite  of  the  defect  of 
the  colouring,  the  composition  is  beforehand  with  the  age  in 
vigour  and  power  of  design,  the  great  technical  skill  of  the 
artist  being  especially  manifest  in  the  foreshortening,  and 
the  expression  of  strong  bodily  effort,  of  the  two  soldiers  in 
the  foreground  in  the  act  of  charging  their  crossbows. 

Piero  (1441-1489),  the  younger  brother  of  Antonio,  was  the 
better  colourist  of  the  two.  Both  brothers  had  a  leaning  to 
the  pagan  and  classical  taste  of  the  age,  and  took  pleasure  in 
representing  mythological  subjects.  The  Combat  of  Hercules 
and  the  Hydra,  and  the  Death  of  Antceus,  were  painted  by 
them  in  colossal  proportions  for  the  Casa  Medici.  These 
paintings  have  since  perished,  but  two  little  pictures  of  the 
same  subject  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  Uffizi. 

The  figure  of  Prudence  in  the  same  gallery,  one  out  of  the 
series  of  Virtues  painted  by  the  Pollaiuoli  for  the  Mer- 
catanzia  at  Florence,  is  noticed  as  a  specimen  of  strong,  bold 
drawing,  after  the  fashion  of  Andrea  del  Castagno,  of  a 
successful  adaptation  of  the  new  method  employed  by  the 
Peselli  in  colouring,  and  of  careful,  well-executed"  draperies. 
The  rest  of  the  series  of  figures  are  stowed  away  in  the  private 
magazines  of  the  gallery. 

The  Pollaiuoli  were  among  the  first  artists  who  made  a 
study  of  anatomy  with  the  view  of  making  it  serve  a  purpose 
in  art.  "We  shall  find  in  the  monument  of  Sixtus  lY..  in  the 
Cappella  del  Sacramento  in  S.  Peter's  at  Rome,  an  illustration 
of  their  elaborate  study  of  the  bones  and  muscles  of  the 
human  figure.^ 

^  No.  292.  2  See  concluding  chapter. 


90  THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  ERA  ANGELICO. 


SANDEO  BOTTICELLI.     Boen  1446.     Died  1510. 

Alessandro,  the  son  of  Mariano  Filipepi  of  Florence, 
was  also  apprenticed  in  his  early  youth  to  a  goldsmith, 
named  Botticelli ;  hence  the  name  by  which  he  is  usually 
known.  Alessandro,  or  "  Sandro,"  as  he  was  commonly 
called,  soon  turned  aside  from  that  branch  of  the  art  to 
follow  the  pleasanter  study  of  painting,  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  closely  connected  with  the  sterner  work  of  the 
goldsmith  during  the  fifteenth  century.  Sandro  set  before 
him  as  a  model  Fra  Filippo's  style  of  painting,  and  was  for 
some  time  his  pupil ;  following  his  teaching  with  such  dili- 
gence and  success  that  at  the  death  of  Fra  Filippo,  Sandro 
remained  one  of  the  first  masters  in  Florence.  He  assisted 
the  Pollaiuoli  in  their  work  of  decorating  the  Mercatanzia 
at  Florence,  but  his  Fortitude,  the  virtue  which  he  chose 
to  represent,  is  not  an  example  of  his  best  manner.  The 
figure  is  that  of  a  woman  enthroned  under  a  niche.  She 
wears  a  winged  helmet  adorned  with  pearls,  and  wields  a  club. 
It  is  now  in  the  Uffizi.  His  fresco  of  S.  Augustin,  in  the 
Ognissanti,  was  another  of  his  earlier  paintings.  Ghirlandajo 
was  at  the  same  time  engaged  in  painting  the  head  of  S. 
Jerome  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  choir,  and  the  two  painters 
were  fired  with  generous  rivalry.  Yasari  gives  the  palm 
to  Botticelli,  on  account  of  the  expression  of  concentrated 
thought  which  he  has  managed  to  convey  to  the  countenance 
of  S.  Augustin. 

The  famous  circular  picture  of  the  Virgin  Crowned  hy 
Angels  (now  in  the  Uffizi),  is  one  of  the  best  specimens  of 
Sandro' s  painting.  "With  one  hand  the  Yirgin  supports  the 
Infant  Saviour,  while  with  the  other  she  is  in  the  act  of 
writing  the  Magnificat  on  the  leaf  of  a  book  held  by  an 
angel.     The    angel    behind    her   throne    is   the    portrait   of 


LIBRA  n 

UNIVEKSIT 

CATJFORNIA 


0^^ 


THE  GOLDSMITH  PAINTERS  OF  FLORENCE.  91 

Lorenzo  de'  Medici.  The  conception  was  new  and  original, 
and  the  execution  worthy  of  Fra  Filippo  in  character,  action, 
and  colouring  ;  but  Botticelli's  Madonna  is  of  a  more  refined 
type,  and  was  the  beautiful  original  of  the  female  heads 
repeated  many  times  by  this  master,  especially  in  the  pictures 
where  the  same  subject  is  represented  with  little  variation, 
as  in  the  Berlin  and  Louvre  Galleries,  and  in  our  national 
collection. 

The  great  Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  at  the  Florentine 
Academy,  is  considered  more  harsh  in  colour,  but  it  shows  a 
great  mastery  of  action  in  the  springing,  dancing  attitudes 
and  floating  drapery ;  yet,  unlike  the  spiritual  joy  conveyed 
by  Fra  Angelico  to  his  saints  and  angels  in  Paradise,  the 
heavenly  sphere,  as  Sandro  represents  it,  appears  like  one  of 
the  earthly  courts  of  the  fifteenth  century,  with  all  its 
solemn  pageantry  translated  into  the  clouds.  The  same 
spirit  inspires  the  artist  in  his  painting  (now  in  the  Uffizi) 
of  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  for  Sta.  Maria  Novella,  where 
he  introduces  Cosimo  il  Vecchio,  as  the  first  of  the  eastern 
kings,  kneeling  before  the  Virgin  and  worshipping  the  Infant 
Saviour,  followed  by  Giuliano  de'  Medici,  and  Giovanni  the 
son  of  Cosimo — all,  Tasari  tells  us,,  living  portraits^ — with 
the  retinue  of  each  of  the  princes  exactly  rendered. 

Botticelli's  talents  afterwards  procured  him  the  favour  and 
patronage  of  Lorenzo  il  Magnifico,  and  he  painted  several 
pictures  for  the  Casa  Medici,  in  the  classical  and  allegorical 
style  which  was  the  fashion  of  the  time.  Among  these  his 
chef  d'ceuvre  was  Venus  floating  on  a  shell  on  the  Oceans 
driven  by  two  of  the  winds  with  a  shower  of  roses  towards 
the  shore.  It  is  now  in  the  Uffizi.  The  Birth  of  Venus,  and 
Venus  amiong  the  Graces,  are  inferior  examples  of  the  same 
class  of  pictures,  and  are  cied  as  showing  the  goldsmith's 
taste  in  representing  luxurious  richness  of  ornament  and 
abundant  jewellery. 

'  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  p.  315. 


92  THE  SUCCESSOES   OF  ERA  ANGELICO. 

But  the  allegorical  picture  of  the  Calumny  of  Apelles  (no-w- 
in the  Uffizi)  shows  Botticelli  to  have  been  a  student  both  of 
sculpture  and  architecture.  The  vehemence  of  Sandro's  action, 
an  exact  contrast  to  that  of  his  master  Fra  Filippo,  who  was  all 
repose,  is  nowhere  more  shown  than  in  this  painting.  Sandro's 
love  of  movement,  his  quaint,  fanciful  conceptions  and  bril- 
liant colouring,  have  been  made  familiar  to  us  in  his  illustra- 
tion of  Boccaccio's  story  of  Nastagio  degli  Onesti}  These  four 
panels  were  originally  painted  for  the  Casa  Pucci  in  1487, 
for  the  wedding  of  Pier  Francesco  di  Giovanni  Bini  with 
Lucrezia  Pucci. 

Besides  these  decorative  paintings,  Sandro  was  employed,  as 
the  chief  historical  painter  of  the  day,  to  paint  the  effigies  of 
the  conspirators  in  the  famous  "  Congiura  de'  Pazzi,"  on  the 
walls  of  the  Palazzo  Pubblico.  The  fame  of  his  paintings 
caused  him  to  be  summoned  to  Rome,  to  share  in  the  decora- 
tion of  the  Sixtine  Chapel.^ 

His  labours  were  munificently  rewarded  by  Pope  Sixtus  lY., 
but  Sandro  was  of  an  improvident  disposition,  and  quickly 
squandered  all  his  money  in  Pome.  He  returned  to  Florence 
totally  impoverished,  but  found  a  new  scope  for  his  energies 
in  designs  for  engraving.  He  was  one  of  the  first  artists  to 
engrave  some  of  his  own  designs ;  but  his  illustrations  of 
Dante,  the  best  specimens  of  his  work,  were  engraved  by 
Baccio  Baldini,  and  belong  to  the  edition  commented  by 
Cristoforo  Landino,  and  printed  in  Florence  in  1481. 

At  the  close  of  his  life  he  became  a  devoted  adherent  of 
Savonarola,  and  gave  up,  it  is  said,  his  profession  as  a 
painter.  Under  such  auspices  it  is  most  probable  that  he 
did  renounce  the  secular  subjects  which  had  been  hitherto 
expressed  by  his  pencil ;  but  competent  critics  have  decided 
that  the  picture  of  the  Nativity  of  our  Saviou/r^  recently  added 

1  Winter  Exhibition   of  Old  Masters  at  Burlington  House,  eleventh 
year,  1879-80 ;  Nos.  212,  213,  253,  254,  lent  by  Mr.  F.  R.  Leyland. 
^  See  concluding  chapter. 


THE  GOLDSMITH  PAINTERS   OF  FLORENCE.  93 

to  the  collection  in  the  National  Gallery,^  must  belong  to  thi 
later  period  of  Sandro's  life,  more  especially  as  the  inscription 
would  refer  to  the  troubles  in  Italy,  so  eloquently  foretold 
by  Savonarola,  which  must  then  have  reached  their  height. 
Sandro  Botticelli  died  in  1510,  and  therefore  outlived  by  some 
years  the  great  preacher  and  reformer  of  Italy. 


THE  PEINCIPAL  WOEKS  OF  BOTTICELLI. 

BERLIN.  Museum. 

Madonna  and  Child  enthroned  with  Angels. 

Madonna  and  Child  and  the  two  S.  Johns  {formerly ^  it  is  said,  in 

Santo  Spirito,  Florence). 
Portrait  of  a  Young  Woman  {supposed  to  be  *'la  bella  Simonetta")- 
Portrait  of  Giuliano  de'  Medici. 

The  Annunciation.  » 

Venus  {study  for  the  painting  in  the  Vjffizi). 
S.  Sebastian  {formerly  ascribed  to  Antonio  del  Pollaiitolo). 

FLORENCE.     Accademia. 

Virgin  enthroned  with  Saints  {from  the  Convent  of  SanC  Ambrosio, 

Florence),    [^^ Probably  by  Andrea  del  Castagno." — Crowe  and 

Cavalcaselle.] 
The   Coronation  of  the  Virgin,    with  SS.    John  the  Evangelist, 

Augustin,  Jerome,  and  Eloisius  (from  the  Convent  of  San  Marco, 

Florence). 
and  its  Predella.     The  Annunciation :   and  four  scenes  from  the 

Lives  of  SS.  John  the  Evangelist,  Augustin,  Jerome,  and  Eloisius. 
The  Virgin  and  Child,    and  with  Saints  (from  Santa  Barbara, 

Florence). 
Allegory  of  Spring  (painted  for  the  Villa  Medici  at  Castello). 
S.  Augustin  dead,  and  Vision  of  S.  Augustin  (from  Santa  Barbara, 

Florence). 
The  Daughter  of  Herodias  with  the  head  of  S.  John :  and  the 

Resurrection  (from  Santa  Barbara,  Florence). 
Uffizi. 
The  Allegory  of  the  Birth  of  Venus  (painted  for  the  Casa  Medici  at 

Castello). 

I  No.  1,034.     Purchased  from  Mr.  W.  Fuller  Maitland,  M.P.,  1878. 


94  THE  SUCCESSOKS  OF  ERA  ANGELICO. 

FLORENCE.     Uffizi  (continued). 

Judith  cutting  off  the  head  of  Holofemes. 

Holofemes  found  Dead  in  his  Tent. 

The  Calumny  of  Apelles. 

Madonna  and  Child,  and  Angels,  i    {The  Magnificat.) 

The  Adoration  of  the  Magi  (painted  for  Santa  Maria  Novella). 

Madonna  and  Child,  and  Angels. 

Fortitude. 

Madonna  and  Child. 

The  Annunciation. 

PiTTi  Palace. 

Holy  Family,  with  Angels. 

Portrait  of  "  La  bella  Simonetta." 

The  Virgin,  Infant  Christ,  and  S.  John. 
Casa  Alessandri. 

Madonna  and  Child,  with  Angels. 
CoEsiNi  Gallery. 

Madonna  and  Angels. 

San  Jacopo  di  Ripoli. 

The  Coronation  of  the  Virgin  (formerly  ascribed  to  GMrlandajo  ; 
given  by  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle  to  Botticelli). 
San  Salv adore  d'  Ognissanti. 

S.  Augustin  {fresco  :  painted  in  1480). 
LONDON.         National  Gallery. 

The  Virgin  and  Child,  S.  John  the  Baptist,  and  two  Angels. 

The  Virgin  and  Child,  S.  John  the  Baptist,  and  an  Angel  (once  in 
the  possession  of  OiuUano  da  San  Gallo). 

Madonna  and  Child. 

Mars  and  Venus. 

Venus  reclining,  with  Cupids. 

The  Nativity  of  the  Saviour.  (The  inscription  on  it  has  been  thus 
read  by  Professor  Sidney  Colvin:  "  This  picture  2,  Alessandro, 
painted  at  the  end  of  the  year  1500,  in  the  (troubles)  of  Italy  in 
the  half-time  after  the  time  during  the  fulfilment  of  the  eleventh  of 
S.  John  in  the  Second  Woe  of  the  Apocalypse,  in  the  loosing  of  the 
devil  for  three  years  and  a  half.  Afterwards  he  shall  be  chained 
and  we  shall  see  him  trodden  down  as  in  this  picture,"  The  date 
has  been  variously  read  as  1460,  1500,  and  1511.  1500  is  that 
most  generally  accepted.) 
MILAN.  Am^rosian  Gallery. 

Virgin  and  Child. 


THE  GOLDSMITH  PAINTERS  OF  FLORENCE.  95 

MCJNICH.  PiNAKOTHEK. 

Pietk. 

PARIS.  Louvre. 

The  Magnificat  {nearly  similar  to  the  pictv/re  in  the  UJizi^  Florence). 
The  Virgin,  Infant  Christ,  and  S.  John. 

ROME.  Yatican.     (Tn  the  Sixtine  Chapel.) 

The  Miracles  of  Moses  (fresco). 
Death  of  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram  (fresco). 
Temptation  of  Christ  (fresco). 
BoRGHESE  Gallery. 
Madonna,  Infant  Christ,  S.  John  the  Baptist,  and  Angels. 


GHIRLANDAJO.     Boen  1449.     Died  1494. 

Domenico,  di  Tommaso  Curradi  di  Doffo,  Bigordi,  called 
Ghirlandajo,^  because  of  his  skill  in  making  silver  garlands  for 
the  Florentine  women,  was  the  prince  of  the  goldsmith  painters. 
He  was  the  son  of  a  goldsmith,  he  was  brought  up  as  a  gold- 
smith, and  the  name  by  which  his  paintings  have  come  down 
to  posterity  was  derived  from  his  success  in  the  goldsmith's 
art.  Still,  early  in  life,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  the  trade 
became  irksome  to  him,  and  the  talents  which  had  declared 
themselves  in  taking  likenesses  of  the  customers  who  fre- 
quented his  father's  shop,  were  placed  under  the  direction  of 
Alesso  Baldovinetti.2  Although  the  precision  of  his  draw- 
ing, and  the  exquisite  finish  of  his  paintings,  were  no  doubt 
due  to  his  early  training,  his  manner  was  not  cramped  by  the 
formality  of  the  goldsmith's  style.  He  is  entitled  to  rank 
among  the  first  fresco  painters  of  the  age,  and,  like  all  the 
great  masters  of  this  branch  of  the  art,  he  studied  the 
immortal  works  of  Masaccio  in  the  Brancacci  Chapel.  The 
first  fruits  of  his  labours  showed  themselves  in  the  frescoes 
of  the  Cappella  de'   Yespucci,  at  the  church  of  Ognissanti 

1  In  the  Florentine  dialect,  Grillandaio. 
*  Vide  ante,  p.  85. 


96  THE   SUCCESSORS   OF  TEA  ANGELICO. 

(1480).  These  were,  unliappily,  covered  with  whitewash  in 
1616,  and  with  them  perished  the  interesting  portrait  of 
Amerigo  Vespucci,  introduced  by  Ghirlandajo  into  one  of  his 
pictures.  Those  in  the  body  of  the  church — including  the  pic- 
ture of  S.  Jerome,  the  rival  of  Botticelli's  jS.  Augustin — still 
exist;  also  a  Cenacolo  in  the  refectory,  but  this  is  fast 
perishing  from  the  damp.^  The  frescoes  in  the  Sala  del 
Orologio,  in  the  Palazzo  Yecchio,  were  his  next  work,  in 
which  he  painted  simultaneously  with  Botticelli,  Pollaiuoli, 
and  other  Florentine  artists,  till  they  were  interrupted  in 
their  labours  by  the  summons  of  Pope  Sixtus  lY.  to  decorate 
the  Sixtine  Chapel  at  Rome.^  The  wall  pictures  of  the 
Chapel  Sta.  Eina  in  the  pieve  of  San  Gimignano — ^very 
beautiful  decorative  works — may  be  classed  among  Ghir- 
landajo's  early  paintings.  But  they  were  surpassed  by 
those  in  the  Sassetti  Chapel,  where  his  great  powers  as 
a  fresco  painter  declared  themselves  in  the  most  unmis- 
takable manner.  These  were  painted  for  a  rich  Florentine 
citizen,  Francesco  Sassetti,  and  the  artist  therefore  chose  for 
his  subject  scenes  from  the  Life  of  S.  Francis.  The  whole 
series  of  pictures  is  full  of  feeling  and  dramatic  power,  mark- 
a  different  epoch  in  Italian  art,  which  was  carried  another 
stage  on  its  road  to  perfection  by  Ghirlandajo.  The  per- 
fection which  he  aimed  at  was  of  a  peculiar  kind.  He  was 
not  satisfied  with  the  mere  representation  of  the  external 
form,  or  an  imitation  of  the  circumstances  of  nature  in  the 
abstract,  however  admirably  rendered ;  but,  with  him,  land- 
scape, architecture,  and  portrait  were  destined  to  be  com- 
bined in  some  grand  composition  to  redound  to  the  glory  and 
honour  of  his  native  city. 

In  the  frescoes  of  the  Sassetti  Chapel  we  find  familiar 
features  of  Florentine  and  Pisan  architecture  in  the  back- 
grounds ;  and  portraits  of  the  most  famous  citizens — Lorenzo 
11  Magnifico,  Maso  degli  Albizzi,  Agnolo  Acciajuoli,  Paolo 

^  Yasari,  ed.  1878-9,  note  to  p.  255.  ^  See  concluding  chapter. 


THE  GOLDSMITH  PAINTERS  OF  FLORENCE.  97 

Strozzi,  and  others — introduced  as  spectators  of  the  events 
chosen  for  illustration.  The  portrait  is  indeed  an  eminent 
characteristic  of  the  work  of  Ghirlandajo  ;  but,  unlike  Botti- 
celli, in  sacred  pictures  he  follows  the  more  devout  school  of 
thought,  which  only  introduces  the  familiar  figures  and  faces 
of  the  time  as  witnesses  of,  and  not  actors  in,  the  incident 
represented  by  the  picture. 

The  Death  of  S.  Francis,  surrounded  by  weeping  monks  of 
his  order,  is  considered  to  be  the  most  remarkable  of  the 
frescoes  in  the  Sassetti  Chapel.  At  the  head  of  the  bed  a 
bishop  chants  the  Litany,  the  figure  so  life-like  that  Yasari  ^ 
tells  us  his  silence  alone  proves  him  to  be  a  painting  and  not 
a  reality.  The  spectacles  on  his  nose  are  said  to  be  the  first 
representation  of  them  known  in  a  picture. 

The  decoration  of  the  Sassetti  Chapel  was  completed  by  an 
altar-piece  representing  the  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds,  now 
in  the  Accademia  at  Florence. 

The  subject  was  a  very  favourite  one  with  Ghirlandajo  j 
he  represents  it  again  in  a  painting  at  the  back  of  the  choir 
of  the  church  "  degli  Innocenti "  at  Morence,  besides  the 
circular  picture  now  in  the  Uffizi. 

As  soon  as  he  had  completed  the  Sassetti  Chapel,  Ghir- 
landajo received  a  commission  from  one  of  the  great  citizens 
of  Florence,  Giovanni  Tornabuoni,  to  restore  the  choir  of  S. 
Maria  Novella,  replacing  by  new  frescoes  the  damaged  work 
of  Andrea  Orcagna.  Ghirlandajo  was  to  receive  1200  ducats 
for  his  work,  and  200  more  if  he  pleased  his  patron.  On  its 
completion,  Tornabuoni  expressed  his  complete  satisfaction  at 
the  work,  but  endeavoured  to  excuse  himself  from  payment 
of  the  200  ducats.  Ghirlandajo  generously  said  that  he  was 
satisfied  with  his  reward. 

The  work  of  re- decorating  the  choir  should  have  fallen  by 
rights  on  the  family  of  the  Ricci,  who  were  the  patrons  of 
the  altar,  and  whose  arms  were  to  be  seen  in  every  part  of 
1  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  p.  255. 
P  F  A.  K 


98  THE  SUCCESSOES   OF  ERA  ANGELICO. 

the  church.  But  poverty  compelled  them  to  waive  their  right 
in  favour  of  Giovanni  Tornabuoni ;  it  was  stipulated,  how- 
ever, that  their  arms  should  be  preserved  intact  in  the  most 
honoured  positions.  Tornabuoni  agreed,  but,  nevertheless, 
had  his  arms  engraved  prominently  on  the  front  pilaster  of 
the  choir,  on  a  much  larger  scale  than  those  of  the  Ricci, 
who  moreover  had  the  mortification  to  see  portraits  of  their 
richer  rivals  frequently  figuring  in  Ghirlandajo's  frescoes. 

Ghirlandajo's  task  occupied  him  four  years.  On  the  right 
hand  wall  he  represented  the  History  of  S.  John  the  Baptist, 
on  the  left  the  Life  of  the  Virgin. 

In  the  picture  which  represents  the  Birth  of  the  Virgin,  we 
find  in  the  lady  who  advances  toward  S.  Anne  the  portrait  of 
Ginevra  de'  Benci,  the  loveliest  woman  of  her  time.^  The  same 
portrait  is  again  repeated  in  the  corresponding  picture  of 
the  Meeting  with  Elizabeth. 

Mr.  Buskin  compares  Ghirlandajo's  treatment  of  this  last 
incident  with  Giotto's  fresco  of  the  same  subject,  in  its 
recess  behind  the  Marchesa  Bidolfi's  tomb  in  the  same  church, 
very  much  to  the  disadvantage  of  Ghirlandajo.  His  remarks 
are  severe  upon  what  he  terms  the  "  pompous  "  style  of  paint- 
ing adopted  by  Ghirlandajo  ;  and  yet  there  is  something  so 
inimitable  in  his  description  of  the  two  pictures,  that  we 
must  cite  the  passage  : — 

"  You  can't  easily  see  better  pieces  (nowhere  more  pompous 
pieces)  of  flat  goldsmith's  work.  Ghirlandajo  was  to  the 
end  of  his  life  a  mere  goldsmith  with  a  gift  of  portraiture. 
And  here  he  has  done  his  best,  and  has  put  a  long  wall  in 
wonderful  perspective,  and  the  whole  city  of  Florence  behind 
Elizabeth's  house  in  the  hill-country  ;  and  a  splendid  bas- 
relief  in  the  style  of  Luca  della  Bobbia  in  S.  Anne's 
bedroom  ;  and  he  has  carved  all  the  pilasters,  and  embroidered 
all  the  dresses,  and  flourished  and  trumpeted  in  every  corner ; 
and  it  is  all  done,  within  just  a  point  as  well  as  it  can  be 
^   Vide  Introduction. 


THE  VISITATION.      BY  GHIRLANDAIO. 
In  the  Louvj-e,  Paris. 


THE   GOLDSMITH  PAINTERS  OF  FLORENCE.  99 

done ;  and  quite  as  well  as  Ghirlandajo  could  do  it.  .  .  . 
Now,  just  for  another  minute,  look  at  the  Birth  of  the  Virgin; 
a  most  graceful  group  (your  Murray's  Guide  tells  you)  in  the 
attendant  servants.  Extremely  so, — also  the  one  holding  the 
child  is  rather  pretty ;  also  the  servant  pouring  out  the  water 
does  it  from  a  great  height  without  splashing,  most  cleverly. 
Also  the  lady  coming  to  ask  for  S.  Anne,^  and  see,  the  baby 
walks  majestically  and  is  very  finely  dressed."  ^ 

Still  with  all  due  deference  to  so  great  an  authority  upon 
art,  we  must  give  Ghirlandajo  credit  for  a  higher  motive  in 
art  than  the  brilliant  display  of  his  abilities  as  a  painter  of 
portraits,  classic  ornament,  and  architecture  in  accurate  per- 
spective. His  singular  gift  as  a  portrait  painter — which  even 
Mr.  Ruskin  will  not  deny  —  is  again  displayed  in  the  opposite 
series,  representing  the  Life  of  S.  John  the  Baptist ;  in  which 
he  introduced,  as  spectators  of  Zacharias  offering  sacrifices 
in  the  Temple,  living  likenesses  of  the  well-known  brilliant 
satellites  of  II  Magnifico's  Court — Angelo  Poliziano,  Cristo- 
foro  Landino,  Marsilio-Ficino,  and  Demetrio  Greco. 

Two  other  prominent  characteristics  in  the  paintings  of 
Ghirlandajo — his  power  of  composition,  and  his  art  in  group- 
ing the  figures — are  exemplified  in  the  Preaching  of  S.  John 
the  Baptist,  another  fresco  in  this  series. 

Although  Domenico  was  the  best  colourist  of  the  time  in 
fresco,  he  has  not  the  same  success  with  his  easel  pictures, 
which  are  often  marred  by  gaudy  inharmonious  tones.  The 
Madonna  and  Saints,  an  altar  painted  for  S.  Giusto,  now  in 
the  Uffizi ;  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  the  altar-piece  of  S. 
Maria  Novella ;  and  the  Visitation,  in  the  Louvre,  are  selected 
as  the  finest  specimens  of  Domenico' s  numerous  paintings  of 
this  class,  which  have  been  scattered  all  over  the  world.  He 
adhered  throughout  his  life  to  the  use  of  tempera  or  fresco,  and 
never  attempted  the  new  system  of  oils — perhaps  discouraged 
by  the  failure  of  his  master's  (Alesso  Baldovinetti)  efforts  to 

^  Ginevra  de'  Benci.  2  Mornings  in  Florence,  No.  ii.  p.  27. 

n  2 


100  THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  FRA  ANGELICO. 

introduce  it  into  wall  painting.  As  a  worker  in  mosaic,  the 
Annunciation  over  the  portal  of  Sta.  Maria  del  Fiore  is  an 
instance  of  his  great  ability  in  that  branch  of  the  art. 

His  brothers,  Davide  and  Benedetto,  made  it  their  distinct 
profession,  and  it  was  Davide  who  repaired  the  mosaics  of  the 
Duomo  at  Orvieto  which  had  been  entrusted  to  Domenico. 

Domenico  died  at  the  age  of  forty-four,  with  sudden  illness, 
in  the  prime  of  his  manhood.  "  "Would  I  had  all  the  walls  of 
Florence  to  paint ! "  he  had  exclaimed  only  a  short  time  pre- 
viously, fired  with  indomitable  energy  and  conscious  of  his 
great  powers.  He  had  been  twice  married  ;  his  first  wife, 
Constanza,  died  in  1485 ;  his  second  choice  was  Antonia,  a 
widow  of  San  Gimignano.  Ghirlandajo  was,  as  a  painter,  in- 
dustrious, painstaking,  and  always  ready  for  work.  He 
considered  no  order  too  unimportant  for  his  acceptance,  and 
was  wont  to  tell  his  assistants  that  "they  were  not  to 
refuse  any  commissions  that  should  be  brought  to  his  shop, 
were  it  even  for  ladies'  petticoat  panniers ;  and  that,  if  they 
did  not  choose  to  accept  them,  he  would."  His  pupils  were 
Granacci,  Jacopo  del  Indaco,  Alessandro  of  Florence,  Sebas- 
tiano  Mainardi  his  favourite  assistant,  and  last,  but  not  least, 
Michelangelo. 


THE  PEmCIPAL  WORKS  OF  GHIRLANDAJO. 


BERLIIT.  Museum. 

Madonna  and  Child,  with  Cherubim  and  SS.  Paul,  Clara,  Francis, 
and  Catherine  {exevuted  with  the  assistance  of  pupils). 

Madonna  and  Child,  with  SS.  John  the  Evangelist,  John  the 
Baptist,  Francis,  and  Jerome  (SS.  Francis  and  Jerome  are  in  oil, 
by  Granacci  ;  the  two  S.  Johns  by  another  assistant). 

FL0RE:N^CE.     Accademia. 

Adoration  of  the  Shepherds  (painted  in  1485 /or  the  Sassetti  Chapel). 


THE  GOLDSMITH  PAINTERS   OF  FLORENCE.  101 

FLOEENCE.     AccADEMiA  {continued). 

Madonna,  with   SS.  Thomas  Ac[uinas,  Dionysius  the  Areopagite, 
Clement,  and  Domenic. 

Uffizi. 
Adoration  of  the  Magi    1487.     a. 
Madonna  and  Saints  {painted  for  San  Giusto,  near  FloreTux). 

PiTTi  Palace. 
Adoration  of  the  Magi  {replica  of  a). 

Spedale  degli  Innocenti. 
Adoration  of  the  Magi,  1488  {in  the  Refectory). 

San  Salvadore  d'  Ognissanti. 
S.  Jerome,  1480. 
Last  Supper,  1480  {in  the  Refectory). 

Monastery  of  San  Marco  {in  the  Small  Refectory), 
Last  Supper. 

Santa  Maria  Novella  {in  the  Choir). 
Various  frescoes  : — 

The  Coronation  of  the  Virgin ;  S.  Francis  before  the  Sultan ;  Death  of  8. 
Peter  Martyr  ;  the  Annunciation ;  Departure  of  John  the  Baptist  for  the 
Desert ;  Portrait  of  Giovanni  Tomabuoni  and  his  wife. 
Scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin  : — 

(i.)  The  Expulsion  of  Joachim  from  the  Temple;  |(ii.)  Birth  ;  (iii.)  Pre. 
sentation  in  the  Temple  ;  (iv.)  Marriage  ;  (v.)  Adoration  of  the  Magi : 
(vi.)  Massacre  of  the  Innocents ;  (vii.)  Death;  (viiL)  Assumption. 

Scenes  from  the  Life  of  S.  John  the  Baptist : — 

(i.)  Zacharias  in  the  Temple  [containing  portraits  of  tTie  Tomabuoni  family, 
and  other  celebrated  persons  of  Florence']  ;  (ii.)  the  Visitation  ;  (iii.)  Birth 
of  John ;  (iv. )  Naming  of  the  child  ;  (v. )  John  .preaching  repentance ; 
(vi.)  Birth  of  Christ ;  (vii.)  the  Daughter  of  Herodias  dancing. 

Santa  Trintta  {in  the  Sassetti  Chapel). 
•Scenes  from  the  Life  of  S.  Francis  : — 

(i.)  Renouncing  his  father's  heritage:  (ii.)  Pope  Honorius  confirming  the 
rules  of  the  Franciscan  order ;  (iii. )  Before  the  Sultan ;  (iv. )  Receiving 
the  Stigmata ;  (v.)  Resuscitation  of  a  child  of  the  Spini ;  (vi )  Funeral 
of  S.  Francis  (painted  in  1485). 

Palazzo  Vecchio  {in  the  Sala  del  Orologio). 
Glorification  of  S.  Zenobio.     1481. 

LUCCA.  San  Martino  {in  the  Sacristy). 

Madonna  and  Saints. 


102  THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  FEA  ANGELICO. 

MUNICH.  PiNAKOTHEK. 

Madonna  and  Child,  with  SS.  John  the  Baptist,  John  the  Evange- 
list, Michael,  and  Domenic. 

On  the  wings — (i.)  S.  Catherine  of  Siena ;  (ii.)  S.  Lawrence. 
[Part  of  an  altar-piece  executed  from  designs  by  Domenico  Ghir- 
landajo  for  Santa  Maria  Novella,  Florence.  The  exterior  icings, 
finished  by  Davide  and  Benedetto  Bigordi  and  Granacd,  after 
Domenico' s  death,  are  in  the  Berlin  Gallery.  ] 

PARIS.  Louvre. 

The  Visitation,  1491  {from  Santa  Maria  degli  Angeli,  Florence). 
Portrait  of  an  Old  Man. 

RIMINI.  Palazzo  Pubblico. 

S.  Domenic,  S.  Sebastian,  and  another  Saint. 

ROME.  Vatican  {in  the  Sixtine  Chapel). 

The  Calling  of  Peter  and  Andrew.     1483. 

SAN  GIMIGNANO.     Pieve. 

Vision  of  S.  Fina,  and  Burial  of  S.  Fina  {in  the  Cappella  S.  Fina). 
The  Annunciation,  1482  {in  the  Oratorio  San  Giovanni). 

VOLTERRA.    San  Francesco. 
Christ  adored  by  Saints. 


ANDREA  DEL  YERROCCHIO.     Born  1435.     Died  1488. 

Goldsmith,  master  in  perspective,  sculptor,  carver  and 
painter ;  Andrea  del  Yerroccliio  makes  a  worthy  climax  to  the 
Florentine  art  of  the  fifteenth  century ;  and  reveals,  at  the 
same  time,  the  source  of  the  versatile  talents  of  his  great 
pupil  Leonardo  da  Yinci. 

Andrea  was  the  son  of  Michele  de'  Cioni.  He  did  not  belong 
to  the  family  of  Yerocchio  who  were  in  existence  at  the  time, 
but  derived  his  name  either  from  the  truth  of  his  sight — the 
keen-sighted — or  because  it  was  the  name  of  the  goldsmith 
Giuliano  Yerrocchi  to  whom  he  was  apprenticed.  While  in 
his  service,  he  executed  many  curious  and  beautiful  works ; 
among  others,  two  goblets  engraved  with  curious  figures  of 
animals   and    foliage,  well-known   to   all  the  goldsmiths  in 


THE  GOLDSMITH  PAINTERS  OF  FLORENCE.  103 

Vasari's  time}  The  fame  of  these  goblets  caused  him  to  be 
employed  by  the  Arte  de'  Mercatanti,  to  model  two  of  the 
reliefs  of  the  silver  altar,  which  was  then  being  prepared  by 
the  Pollaiuoli  for  S.  Giovanni.  Like  the  other  Florentine 
artists  of  the  day,  he  was  also  summoned  to  Bome,^  to  place 
his  talents  at  the  disposal  of  the  imperious  pontiff.  On  his 
return  from  Rome  he  pursued  in  Florence  the  sculptor's  art ; 
which  he  had  brought  to  perfection  in  the  study  of  the 
antiques  of  the  ancient  capital  of  the  world.  His  works  are 
few,  and  little  known ;  but  among  others  we  may  instance  a 
life-size  statue  of  David,  which,  when  finished,  was  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  Palace  stairs,  and  is  now  to  be  seen  in  the 
Uffizi ;  the  figure  of  the  Virgin  above  the  sepulchre  of 
Leonardo  Bruni  Aretino  in  Sta.  Croce ;  two  bronze  heads  of 
Alexander  the  Great  and  Darius,  presented  by  Lorenzo  il 
Magnifico  to  Mathias  Corvinus,  King  of  Hungary  ;  and  his 
representation  of  the  Incredulity/  of  S.  Thomas,  in  bronze,  foi- 
the  church  of  Or  San  Michele. 

Andrea  del  Yerrocchio  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  artist 
who  took  casts  in  plaster  from  life,  as  aids  to  the  study  of  form. 
He  was  a  careful  student  of  nature,  and  his  designs — some 
of  which  have  been  preserved  to  us — have  the  admirable 
precision  and  clearness  natural  to  a  carver  in  metal,  but  he 
never  succeeded  in  rendering  them  in  colour. 

These  defects  are  visible  in  the  one  authentic  picture 
which  he  has  left  behind  him  in  Florence  of  the  Baptism  of 
Our  Saviour ;  and  they  are,  perhaps,  made  more  evident  by 
contrast  with  the  grace  and  beauty  of  one  of  the  angels, 
supposed  to  have  been  introduced  into  the  picture  by 
Leonardo  da  Yinci. 

In  England  one  of  the  few  paintings  by  Yerrocchio,  still 
extant,  is  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  W.  S.  Dugdale,  of  Mere- 
vale,  Warwickshire.  It  is  painted  on  panel,  2  feet  by  1  foot 
9  inches.  It  represents  our  Saviour  crucified  between  the  two 
*  See  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  p.  359.  ^  gee  concludiug  chapter. 


104  THE  SUCCESSOKS   OF  ERA  ANGELICO, 

thieves  :  the  blessed  Yirgin  and  another  woman,  perhaps  the 
Magdalen,  on  her  knees  clasping  the  cross,  and  S.  John.  Two 
angels,  nearly  the  same  size  as  the  figures  in  the  foreground, 
in  the  upper  corners,  are  in  the  act  of  adoration.  Jerusalem 
is  seen  in  the  distance. 

As  a  sculptor,  if  Verrocchio  had  given  no  other  proof  of 
his  skill,  his  fame  might  securely  rest  on  the  equestrian 
statue  of  Bartolommeo  Goleoni  at  Venice,  the  last  work  of 
his  life  (see  illustration).  A  masterpiece  of  its  age,  it  remains 
a  masterpiece  to  the  present  day ;  and  while  it  makes  up  for 
the  loss  of  Leonardo's  productions  of  the  same  kind,  it  ex- 
plains where  the  great  pupil  of  Yerrocchio  learnt  his  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  form,  action,  and  anatomy  of  the  horse. 

But  although  Verrocchio's  talent  in  modelling  a  horse  was 
universally  accepted,  the  Venetians  seem  not  to  have  placed 
such  entire  confidence  in  his  power  of  representing  the  rider, 
and  therefore  proposed  to  entrust  this  part  of  the  commission  to 
Giacomo  Yellano,  da  Padova.  Andrea,  as  soon  as  this  scheme 
became  known  to  him,  roused  to  just  indignation,  broke  the 
model  of  his  horse  to  fragments,  and  went  back  to  Florence. 
The  Signoria  bade  him  beware  of  ever  returning  to  Yenice, 
for  if  he  did  so  his  head  would  pay  the  forfeit.  To  which 
Andrea  made  answer  that  they  had  .better  take  care  what 
they  were  about ;  because,  although  they  had  the  power 
of  chopping  off  men's  heads,  they  were  unable  to  put  them  on 
again ;  and  certainly  they  could  not  replace  his,  though  he 
could  make  another  head  as  good  as,  and  better  than,  the 
one  he  had  broken  off  his  horse.  The  Venetians,  pleased 
with  his  spirit,  invited  him  back  to  Venice  to  execute  the 
model  a,s  he  thought  best,  offering  him  a  double  commission 
for  his  pains.  Those  who  have  seen  the  magnificent  counten- 
ance and  attitude  of  Bartolommeo  Coleoni,  as  he  sits  on  his 
bronze  steed  in  the  Piazza  outside  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo, 
know  that  the  Venetians  have  had  no  cause  to  regret  their 
bargain. 


BARTOLOMMEO   COLEONI.      BY  ANDREA   DEL  VERROCCHIO. 
In  the  Piazza  outside  SS.    Giovanni  e  Paolo,  Venice. 


THE  GOLDSMITH  PAINTERS  OF  FLORENCE. 


105 


The  model  was  complete ;  but  in  casting  it,  owing  to  the 
great  heat  of  the  furnace,  the  sculptor  caught  a  cold,  of 
which  he  died  in  a  few  days.^  In  his  will  he  had  entrusted 
the  completion  of  his  work  to  his  pupil,  Lorenzo  di  Credi. 
The  Venetians,  disregarding  his  request,  placed  it  instead  in 
the  hands  of  Alessandro  Leopardo,  whose  name  is  engraved 
on  the  girth  of  the  horse.  He  was  ever  afterwards  called 
by  the  people  "  Alessandro  del  Cavallo."  The  pedestal,  also 
Yerrocchio's  design,  is  one  of  the  finest  of  its  kind,  and 
scarcely  less  worthy  of  attention  than  the  statue  itself, 

Andrea  del  Yerrocchio  was  only  fifty-three  years  of  age 
when  he  died.  His  friends  and  pupils  grieved  sorely  over  his 
untimely  end.  We  have  mentioned  that  the  great  Leonardo 
da  Yinci  learnt  the  first  principles  of  art  under  the  guidance 
of  Yerrocchio ;  Pietro  Perugino,  an  artist  of  almost  equal 
fame,  was  also  his  pupil. 

1  Vasari,  ed.  1878-9,  p.  368. 


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CHAPTER  YIII. 

THE   FLORENTINE  ARTISTS   IN   ROME. 

•*  Study,  therefore,  the  great  works  of  the  great  artists  for  ever.  Study, 
as  nearly  as  you  can,  in  the  order,  in  the  manner,  and  on  the  principles  on 
which  they  studied.  Study  nature  attentively,  but  always  with  those 
masters  in  your  company ;  consider  them  as  models  which  you  are  to 
imitate,  and  at  the  same  time  as  rivals  with  whom  you  are  to  contend." 
—Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  Discourse  VI.,  p.  109. 

VASAE.I  tells  Tis  that,  "  of  all  the  methods  of  painting, 
the  fresco  upon  the  wall  is  the  most  masterly  and 
the  most  beautiful ;  because,  in  it  the  painter  must  do  his 
work  in  one  day,  and  at  one  stroke ;  whereas,  in  other  cir- 
cumstances, he  may  touch  and  re-touch  it  as  often  as  he 
pleases."  It  was  a  custom  much  employed  by  the  Greeks, 
and  the  old  masters  of  the  Renaissance  adopted  the  same 
practice.  The  art  consisted  in  working  upon  the  fresh  plaster, 
and  in  finishing  a  certain  portion  of  the  picture  by  the  end  of 
each  day,  while  the  plaster  remained  fresh.  Then  both  dried 
together,  the  painting  and  the  plaster,  and  there  was  no 
possibility  of  re-touching  the  work  afterwards.  If  there  was 
any  delay,  the  plaster,  exposed  to  the  effects  of  heat  and 
cold,  sun  and  wind,  became  coated  with  a  sort  of  crust, 
which  blurred  and  stained  the  work.     It  was  necessary  to 


THE  FLORENTINE  ARTISTS  IN  ROME.  107 

keep  tlie  wall  moist  during  the  process,  and  the  colours  had 
to  be  of  a  special  kind,  vegetable  and  not  mineral.  The 
fresco  painters  required,  above  all  things,  a  swift,  dexterous, 
and  resolute  hand,  a  dexterity  which  was  only  acquired  by 
years  of  study  and  practice,  and  great  powers  of  calculation 
as  to  the  tints  which  changed  with  the  wall  as  it  dried. 
Many  of  the  painters  who  succeeded  admirably  well  in 
tempera  and  oil-painting,  failed  in  the  fresco,  which  may  be 
considered  the  highest  kind  of  art,  both  on  account  of  the 
great  abilities  it  develops  in  the  artist,  and  because,  once 
done,  it  remains  for  ever. 

Was  it  possibly  the  strong  conviction  of  this  durability 
which  made  Zeuxis  so  paint,  that  posterity  might  be  his 
spectators,  while  he  exclaimed  with  confidence,  "  In  seter- 
nitatem  pingo  !  "  ("  I  paint  for  eternity !  ") 

Yasari  concludes  his  advice  to  the  fresco  painters  by 
urging  them  to  paint  "  Virilmente  e  non  ritocchino  a  secco." 
("  With  decision,  and  never  to  retouch  their  work  when  dry.") 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds^  chooses  fresco  painting  as  the  illus- 
tration of  that  "great  style"  which  he  would  have  the 
ambition  of  every  art  student,  for  in  it,  he  says,  consists 
"the  intellectual  dignity  that  ennobles  the  painter's  art, 
that  lies  the  line  between  him  and  the  mere  mechanic,  and 
produces  those  great  effects  in  an  instant  which  eloquence 
and  poetry  by  slow  and  repeated  efforts  are  scarcely  able 
to  attain." 

Never  was  there  so  grand  a  field  for  the  fresco  painters  as 
when  Pope  Sixtus  lY.,  having  erected  the  chapel  which  bears 
his  name  (1474),  sent  to  Florence  for  the  great  masters  in 
that  special  branch  of  the  art  to  come  and  vie  with  one 
another  in  decorating  the  newly-finished  walls.  They  came : 
Sandro  Botticelli,  Domenico  Ghirlandajo,  Cosimo  Eosselli, 
and  Luca  Signorelli.  More  or  less  distinguished  in  their 
own  country,  these  great  masters  surpassed  themselves  in 
^  Discourse  V.  p.  33. 


108  THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  ERA  ANGELICO. 

the  decoration  of  this  chapel.  Perhaps  they  were  fired  with 
generous  emulation ;  perhaps  the  mere  fact  of  their  residence 
in  the  far-famed  city  enlarged  their  ideas,  and  gave  them  a 
fresh  and  more  powerful  grasp  of  the  great  principles  of 
their  art. 

Sandro  Botticelli  was  chosen  to  superintend  the  whole 
work.  It  was  proposed  that  the  frescoes  should  represent 
the  History  of  Moses  on  one  side  of  the  chapel,  and  that  of 
Owr  Saviour  on  the  other ;  the  intention  being  to  place  in 
contrast  the  old  law  and  the  new,  the  Hebrew  with  the 
Christian  dispensations,  types  and  prophecies  with  their 
fulfilment.! 

Besides  the  general  superintendence,  Sandro  undertook 
three  of  the  subjects  himself: — 

1.  Moses's  Miracles  in  Egypt. 

2.  The  Fall  of  Korah. 

3.  The  Temptation  of  our  Saviour. 

All  three  paintings  are  still  extant,  and  are  reckoned  by 
the  critics  as  Botticelli's  best  productions,  both  on  account  of 
the  spirit  and  vivacity  of  their  action,  and  the  brilliancy  of 
their  colouring ;  these  two  especial  features  of  the  painter's 

'  The  series  begins  from  the  altar  on  the  wall  to  the  left : — 

1.  Journey  of  Moses  and  Zipporah.     (Penigino.) 

2.  Moses's  Miracles  in  Egypt.     (Botticelli.) 

3.  Drowning  of  Pharaoh.     (RosselU. ) 

4.  Moses  receiving  the  Law  :  Adoration,  and  destruction  of  the  Calf. 

(Rosselli. ) 

5.  Fall  of  Korah  and  his  Followers.     (Botticelli.) 

6.  Publication  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  Death  of  looses. 

(SignoreUi.) 
On  the  wall  to  the  right : — 

1.  The  Baptism  of  Christ.     (Perugino.) 

2.  The  Temptation  of  Christ.     (Botticelli.) 

3.  The  calling  of  the  Apostles  Peter  and  Andrew.     (Ghirlandajo. ) 

4.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount.     (Rosselli. ) 

5.  The  Investiture  of  S.  Peter.     (Perugino.) 

6.  The  Last  Supper.     (Rosselli.) 


THE  FLOEENTINE  ARTISTS  IN  ROME.  109 

style  appear  most  vividly  in  the  two  paintings  which  relate 
to  Moses,  where  he  succeeds  in  rendering  with  extraordinary 
power  the  numerous  figures  in  strong  and  varied  action,  the 
flutter  of  the  draperies  in  the  breeze,  and  all  the  richness  of 
Eastern  ornament.  Being  ignorant  of  the  laws  of  distribu- 
tion, he  is  tempted  to  overcrowd  his  paintings  with  figures ; 
but  some  of  the  individual  groups  in  his  last  painting  of  the 
Temptation  in  the  Wilderness  are  equal  in  their  beauty  to  any 
work  produced  by  him  either  before  or  afterwards.  Cosimo 
E,oselli  continued  the  representation  of  the  life  of  Moses. 
He  was  not  equal  to  his  fellow-labourers  in  the  power  of 
design ;  to  make  up  for  this  deficiency,  he  loaded  his  pictures 
with  gold  and  brilliant  colouring — a  style  which,  if  it  pleased 
no  one  else,  pleased  the  pontiff,  who,  having  no  real  taste  in 
the  fine  arts,  commended  Cosimo  beyond  all  the  other  artists. 
Cosimo' s  best  work  in  the  Sixtine  was  the  Sermon  on  tJie 
Mount ;  he  was  assisted  in  the  landscape*  by  Piero  di  Cosimo, 
who  also  was  a  better  colpurist  than  draughtsman. 

The  real  claim  of  both  artists  to  distinction  is  derived 
from  their  pupils,  Fra  Bartolommeo,  the  pupil  of  Roselli; 
Andrea  del  Sarto,  the  pupil  of  Piero  di  Cosimo. 

Ghirlandajo  continued  the  illustration  of  the  Gospel  history 
in  the  Calling  of  JSS.  Feter  and  Andrew,  and  the  Resurrection. 
The  last  has  been  so  much  repainted  that  it  can  no  longer  be 
called  Ghirlandajo's  work ;  but  the  Calling  of  SS.  Peter  and 
Andrew,  both  for  design  and  execution,  is  one  of  the  noblest 
frescoes  of  the  series. 

Not  only  does  Ghirlandajo  exhibit  in  this  painting  his 
unsurpassed  skill  in  the  technical  management  of  the  fresco, 
but  in  the  conception  he  rises  far  beyond  the  realism  of  the 
goldsmith's  school,  and  gives  the  most  solemn  and  striking 
side  of  the  incident,  making  it  the  principal  idea.  Some 
critics  have  compared  the  grandeur  and  dignity  of  the  figure 
of  our  Saviour  with  Masaccio's  treatment  of  the  same  figure 
iu  his  fresco  of  the  Tribute  Money ;  while  others  look  upon 


110  THE   SUCCESSORS   OF  FKA  ANGELICO. 

it  as   an  anticipation  of   Raphael's   Miraculous  Draught  of 
Fishes,  and  of  his  Feed  my  Sheep. 

Thus  does  Ghirlandajo  form  the  connecting  link  between 
the  two  great  masters,  Masaccio  and  Raphael.  The  nobility 
of  his  conception  is,  in  this  instance,  enhanced  by  a  vast 
landscape  background,  displaying  the  artist's  accurate  know- 
ledge of  the  laws  of  linear  perspective  to  which  we  have 
already  alluded  ;  the  subordinate  figures  are  admirably 
grouped,  nor  are  the  garments  overcharged  with  gold  and 
ornament — always  the  temptation  of  the  goldsmith  painters, 
as  if  the  beauty  of  the  figure  increased  in  proportion  to  the 
richness  of  their  apparel. 

LUCA   SiGNORELLI. 

The  name  of  Luca  Signorelli  (born  1441,  died  1523),  called, 
from  his  birthplace,  Luca  da  Cortona,  completes  the  group  of 
the  great  fresco  painters  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Although 
not  a  Florentine  by  birth,  Signorelli  was  an  eminent  painter 
of  the  Florentine  school,  and,  as  such,  was  called  upon  to  take 
his  share  in  the  decoration  of  the  Sixtine  Chapel.  He  carried 
on  the  series  illustrating  the  history  of  Israel,  and  painted 
the  Publication  of  the  Ten  Gormnandments  and  the  closing 
scenes  of  the  life  of  Moses. 

Yasari  places  these  works  as  the  highest  of  all  the  frescoes 
in  the  Sixtine  Chapel ;  but,  although  equal  to  Ghirlandajo  in 
the  grandeur  of  his  conception,  Signorelli  is  more  coarse  in 
his  selection  of  individual  forms. 

The  pupil  of  Piero  della  Francesca,  he  possessed  his 
master's  gift  of  drawing  the  forms  of  the  body  anatomically, 
and  was  thus  able  to  throw  a  wonderful  spirit  and  expression 
into  the  various  attitudes  of  his  figures.  He  was  a  complete 
master  of  the  delineation  of  the  nude  form,  and  was  in  this 
point  only  equalled  by  Michelangelo,  whose  immediate  pre- 
decessor  he   was   in   this   class  of   study.     Michelangelo   is 


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THE  FLORENTINE  AETISTS  IN  ROME.  Ill 

supposed  to  have  borrowed  many  of  his  ideas  from  Signo- 
relli's  Last  Judgment  in  Orvieto  Cathedral — especially  the 
principal  figure,  which  in  his  hands  lost  much  of  the  original 
nobility  of  the  conception.  The  fresco  was  designed  by  Fra 
Angelico. 

But  although  it  would  be  in  vain  to  look  for  the  spiritual 
rendering  of  the  saintly  master,  Luca  Signorelli  awakens  at 
once  our  astonishment  and  admiration  by  his  knowledge  of 
human  anatomy.  This  he  displays  by  throwing  his  figures 
into  every  conceivable  attitude  never  attempted  before  in 
art.  We  might  choose,  for  an  example,  the  Fulminatii  or 
the  Wicked  cast  out  of  Heaven,  in  which  he  foreshortens 
the  falling  figures  with  a  daring  success  quite  unapproached 
by  any  of  the  masters  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

From  the  time  of  Niccolo  Pisano  up  to  that  of  Michel- 
angelo, this  fearful  subject,  the  Last  Judgment,  always  had 
an  irresistible  attraction  for  the  minds  of  the  great  artists, 
who  vied  with  one  another  in  their  endeavour  to  portray  with 
equal  vividness  in  sharp  contrast  the  joys  of  the  just  and 
the  despair  of  the  wicked.  Their  efforts  were,  no  doubt, 
greatly  due  to  the  influence  of  the  Divina  Commedia — and 
they  were,  in  fact,  rivals  of  Dante,  endeavouring  to  depict 
in  their  art  the  scenes  which  he  had  rendered  in  his  immortal 
poem. 

They  exhausted  their  invention  in  the  effort  to  represent 
the  frantic  despair  of  the  wicked  at  the  sudden  realisation  of 
their  awful  condition ;  the  body  writhing  with  the  torture  of 
the  mind  in  every  conceivable  attitude  of  pain  and  agony, 
so  that  the  spectator  turns  shuddering  away  from  such  fearful 
scenes  as  Signorelli' s  Last  Judgment  in  Orvieto,  or  that  of 
Michelangelo  at  Rome.  Unhappily,  neither  the  artist  nor 
the  poet  are  able  to  depict  with  corresponding  power  the 
joys  of  the  blessed.  It  would  seem  as  if  man,  familiarised 
by  a  long  apprenticeship  with  pain  and  sorrow,  knew  only 
too  well  how  to  represent  them,  either  in  poetry  or  on  canvas. 


112  THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  ERA  ANGELICO. 

but  that  his  invention  fails  him  to  describe  a  joy  which  he 
cannot  even  approach  with  his  imagination. 


Portrait  of  Signorelli.     By  Himself. 
In  the  Cathedral  of  Oi'vieto. 


Signorelli    worked    in    Umbria,   Perugia,    Yolterra,    and 
Florence.     His  greatest  works  in   fresco,  besides  those   we 


THE   FLORENTINE  ARTISTS   IN   ROME.  113 

have  already  mentioned,  were  painted  in  the  convent  of 
Monte  Oliveto,  south  of  Siena,  representing  scenes  from 
the  Lyfe  of  S.  Benedict ;  and  those  in  the  sacristy  of  the 
church  at  Loreto  representing  the  Evangelists  and  Doctors 
of  the  Church  in  the  vaulting,  and  the  Conversion  of  S.  Paul 
upon  the  walls.  His  native  city  of  Cortona  was  enriched  by 
many  of  his  works.  Three  powerful  pictures  adorn  the  choir 
of  the  Duomo  : — 

1.  llie  Institution  of  the  Holy  C ommuniony  remarkable 
because  he  departs  from  the  usual  custom  of  representing  a 
long  table  running  across  the  picture.  He  makes  the  dis- 
ciples kneel  on  either  side  of  our  Saviour,  who  stands  in  the 
midst  of  them. 

2.  The  Descent  from  the  Cross,  celebrated  for  the  great 
number  of  beautiful  heads,  the  power  of  the  colouring,  and 
the  chiaroscuro,  worthy  of  a  later  age. 

3.  The  Conversion  of  S.  Thomas,  the  least  important  of  the 
series.  Besides  these  in  the  sacristy,  he  painted  the  lunette 
of  a  Madonna,  almost  equal  to  a  Leonardo  in  beauty.  These 
were  his  principal  paintings,  but  many  other  churches,  in 
Cortona  and  its  vicinity,  can  boast  some  beautiful  works  by 
Luca  Signorelli. 

Luca  Signorelli  lived  to  a  great  age.  In  his  eighty-second 
year  he  undertook  one  of  the  frescoes  in  the  new  palace  built 
by  Sylvio  Passerini,  Cardinal  of  Cortona,  about  a  mile  out  of 
the  city.  The  subject  of  the  fresco  was  to  have  been  the 
Baptism  of  our  Saviour,  but  he  died  before  it  was  finished. 
Besides  his  very  singular  genius,  he  was  a  man  of  great 
industry,  who  thoroughly  mastered  every  subject  he  under- 
took, and  then  treated  it  with  unfaltering  decision  and  energy. 
He  was  no  doubt  the  greatest  fresco  painter  of  his  age,  but  he 
also  painted  movable  pictures  and  altar-pieces  of  great  value 
which  have  found  their  way  to  the  various  galleries  of  Europe. 
Vasari,  who  was  personally  acquainted  with  him,  describes 
him  as  a  man  of  bl-vmeless  life,  and  gentle  courteous  manners  ; 

p  F  A  1 


114  THE   SUCCESSORS   OF  TEA  ANGELICO. 

and,  like  the  true  artist  he  was,  most  anxious  to  impart  the 
result  o£  his  labour  and  experience  to  his  pupils,  to  enable 
them  to  follow  in  the  path  which  he  had  opened  to  them — a 
path  which  led  straight  to  that  perfection  of  design  illustrated 
by  the  immortal  works  of  the  succeeding  century. 

Besides  the  decoration  of  the  Sixtine  Chapel  by  the  fresco 
painters  there  was  work  also  in  Rome  for  the  Florentine 
goldsmiths  and  sculptors.  The  huge  silver  figures  of  the 
Apostles  which  stood  on  the  altar  in  the  Pope's  Chapel  were 
missing.  Andrea  del  Yerrocchio  was  sent  for  from  Florence  to 
supply  them.  Inspired  by  the  treasures  of  antique  sculpture 
which  surrounded  him,  Verrocchio  abandoned  the  goldsmith 
art  for  that  of  the  sculptor  and  statue  maker,  and,  after  casting 
several  small  figures  in  bronze,  embarked  in  the  large  under- 
taking of  a  marble  tomb  for  the  wife  of  Francesco  Torna- 
buoni,  with  bas-reliefs  representing  scenes  from"  her  life,  very 
finely  sculptured,  which  was  placed  in  the  Minerva,  but  has 
since  been  removed  thence. 

The  Pollaiuoli  were  also  summoned  by  the  successor  of  Sixtus 
IV — Innocent  YIII — to  adorn  the  tomb  of  one  who  had,  from 
whatever  motive,  been  so  keen  a  patron  of  the  fine  arts. 
They  spent  themselves  in  the  effort  to  produce  a  monument 
befitting  the  occasion,  which  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  Cappella 
del  Sacramento  bearing  their  name  and  the  date  1493. 

It  has  been  made  the  subject  of  careful  criticism  by  the 
great  writers  on  art.^ 

''The  pontiff  (Sixtus  lY.)  lies  at  full  length  on  the  lid  of  a 
sarcophagus,  on  the  corners  of  which  are  figures  of  Yirtues 
and  ornaments  in  relief.  The  piece  is  remarkable  for  its 
successful  distribution  and  the  beauty  of  its  ornamentation ; 
but  the  rigid  and  exaggerated  action,  the  searching  study  of 
the  muscular  developments  of  fiesh,  the  realistic  coarseness 
of  the  joints  and  extremities,  the  defective  draperies,  accuse 
1  Crowe  and  Cavalcasell»,  vol.  ii.  p.  388. 


THE   FLORENTINE  ARTISTS   IN   RO^IE.'  115 

an  absence  of  the  idea  of  severe  vsculjftural  simplicity,  or 
prove  that  the  hardness  and  angularity  incidental  to  the 
casting  of  bronze  were  not  to  be  overcome,  when  the  artist 
attempted  to  realize  too  many  of  the  details  of  movement  in 
the  limbs  and  extremities,  or  in  the  tendons  and  muscles." 

The  tomb  of  Innocent  VIII.  now  in  the  Cappella  della 
Concezione  was  also  the  work  of  the  Pollaiuoli ;  and  it  was 
superior  to  that  of  SixtUs  IV.  The  subject  was  differently 
treated,  the  Pontiff  being  twice  represented  ;  first,  seated  on 
high,  the  right  hand  in  the  act  of  Benediction,  the  left 
holding  a  lance  ;  the  second  time  he  is  represented  at  the 
foot  of  the  monument  in  a  recumbent  attitude.^ 

The  Pollaiuoli  died  in  Eome,  and  are  buried  in  the  church 
^mXt-v   of  S.  Piero  in  Vincoli. 

Such  was  the  state  of  art  in  Italy  at  the  decline  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  Much  progress  had  been  already  made  in 
painting  from  life,  and  the  heads  of  the  figures  are  charac- 
terised by  a  truth  and  vivacity  not  surpassed  even  in  the 
present  day.  The  painting  of  the  hands  and  feet  was  by  no 
means  so  excellent,  and  there  was  still  great  scope  for  improve- 
ment in  representing  the  ideal  beauty — instead  of  the  bare 
imitation — of  the  form.  Fulness  of  design,  harmony  of 
colour,  serial  perspective,  variety  in  composition,  freedom  of 
the  pencil, — still  somewhat  cramped  even  in  the  hands  of  the 
greatest  artists ;  all  these  were  necessary  to  complete  that 
perfection  of  art  which  belongs  to  the  succeeding  age  In 
Florence  every  surrounding  circumstance  combined  to  promote 
this  improvement.  The  taste  for  fine  architecture  was  rapidly 
spreading  all  over  Italy  :  the  most  beautiful  buildings,  cathe- 
drals, public  and  ducal  palaces  in  Florence,  Pome,  Mantua, 
Venice,  TJmbria,  and  Rimini  were  the  creation  of  this  century. 
When  their  magnificent  external  proportions  were  complete, 
the  internal  decoration  followed  as  a  matter  of  course.  There 
1  V^sari.  ed.  1S73-0.  p.  2G6. 


116  THE   SUCCESSORS   OF   ERA  ANGELICO. 

was  a  universal  demand  for  the  painter  and  sculptor — and 
thus  arose  among  the  artists  that  noble  emulation  and  inter- 
change of  ideas  so  conducive  to  the  progress  of  art. 

The  study  of  poetry,  analogous  to  that  of  painting,  was 
likewise  in  the  ascendant ;  investing  the  age  with  that  golden 
halo,  which,  ever  ready  to  shine  upon  the  sister  arts,  does  not 
shed  so  brilliant  a  light  upon  the  severer  studies  of  science. 
These  circumstances  prepared  the  way  for  the  most  glorious 
era  in  painting,  when  the  schools  of  Italy,  fired  with  generous 
rivalry,  each  developed  a  decided  character  of  its  own — some 
one  peculiar  excellence,  illustrated  by  some  famous  master — 
which,  as  it  has  been  aptly  described  by  one  of  their  great 
artists,  procured  for  each  school  its  own  special  claim  to 
distinction. 

"  Chi  farsi  un  buon  Pittore  brama  e  desia 
Tl  discgno  di  Roma  abbia  alia  Mano 
La  Massa  coll'  ombra  Veneziano 
E  11  degno  colorir  di  Lombardia 
Di  Michel  Angelo  la  terribil  viu 
II  vero  natural  di  Tiziano 
Di  Coreggio  lo  stil  puro  e  sovrano 
E  di  un  Raffael  la  vera  simmetria 
Del  Tebaldi  il  decoro  e  il  fondament'j 
Del  dotto  Primaticcio  I'inventare 
E  un  p6  di  gvazia  del  Parmigianmo. " 


APPENDIX. 
tka:n^slations  of  Italian  quotations. 

Page  1. 

"  Thou  didst  as  one, 
Who,  journeying  through  the  darkness,  bears  a  light 
Behind,  that  profits  not  himself,  but  makes 
His  followers  wise." 

Gary's  Translation. 

Page  9. 

"  Zeuxis,  Parrhasius,  Polygnot,  stand  by, 
Art  in  my  hands  became  a  silent  nature ; 
Feeling  and  force  I  gave  to  every  feature 
My  fish  appear  to  swim,  my  birds  to  fly.' ' 

R.  P. 

Page  16. 

"  I  painted — and  the  very  truth  my  painting  seemed  to  be 
Each  figure  on  my  canvas  with  quick  life  appeared  to  glow 
Every  ieature  moving,  speaking — let  great  Angelo 
Teach  the  rest  as  his  disciples,  but  learn  alone  from  me." 

K.  P. 

Page  25. 

"  And  in  that  midst  their  sportive  pennons  wav'd 
Thousands  of  Angels  ;  in  resplendence  each 
Distinct,  and  quaint  adornment.     At  their  glee 
And  carol,  smiled  the  Lovely  One  of  heaven, 
That  joy  was  in  the  eyes  of  all  the  blest." 

Gary's  Translation. 

Page  28. 

"  One,  seraphic  all 
In  fervency  ;  for  wisdom  upon  earth, 
The  other,  splendour  of  cherubic  light." 

Gary's  Translation. 


118  APPENDIX. 

Page  31. 
"  Say,  who  that  angel  is  that  with  such  glee 
Beholds  our  queen,  and  so  enamoured  glows 
Of  her  liigh  beauty,  that  all  fire  he  seems. 

***** 
In  him  are  summed 
Whate'er  of  buxomness  and  free  delight 
May  be  in  spirit,  or  in  angel,  met ; 
And  so  beseems  ;  for  that  he  bare  the  palm 
Down  unto  Mary,  when  the  Son  of  God 
Vouchsafed  to  clothe  Him  in  terrestrial  weeds." 

Gary's  Translation 

Page  41. 

"  And  didst  thou  look 
E'en  thus,  0  Jesus,  my  true  Lord  and  God? 


And  was  this  semblance  thine  ?  " 


Page  44. 


Gary's  Translation. 


*•  I  beheld  a  puissant  One  arrive 
Amongst  us,  with  victorious  trophy  crowned. 
He  forth  the  shade  of  our  first  parent  drew. 
Abel  his  child,  and  Noah  righteous  man. 
Of  Moses  lawgiver  for  faith  approv'd. 
Of  patriarch  Abraham  :  and  David  King. 

***** 

— And  others  many  more,  whom  he  to  bliss 
Exalted." 

Gary's  Translation. 

Page  116. 

"  How  to  paint  well  who  doth  desire  to  knoV 
Careful  design  will  study  well  at  Rome. 
From  Venice  breadth  of  light  and  shadow  come. 
Of  Lombard  colouring  mark  the  noble  glow  ; 
Then  tread  the  awful  path  of  Angelo. 
See  Titian's  nature  every  eye  beguile, 
Correggio's  chastening  and  imperial  style. 
The  matchless  symmetry  of  Raffaello, 
Tibaldi's  grave  decorum  and  his  ground  ; 
In  Primaticcio  learned  invention  trace, 
From  Parmigianino  steal  a  little  grace." 

li.  P. 


NOTE. 

«  TEMPERA.'' 

(C.  Ti.,  Yasari,  ed.  1878—9,  vol.  i.  p.  183.) 

OF   THE   USE   OF   DISTEMPER. 

"  Before  the  time  of  Cimabue,  the  use  of  distemper  both  in  panel  and 
wall-painting  was  common  among  the  Greeks  ;  and  afterwards  it  was  a 
universal  practice  among  Italian  painters.  These  old  masters  used  to  pre- 
pare their  panels  by  spreading  a  linen  cloth  over  them,  and  glueing  it 
tirmly  down,  lest  they  should  split  at  the  joins.  Over  this  they  spread 
ingesso,  a  sort  of  prepared  j»]aster,  made  from  sulphuric  acid  and  lime  ; 
and  they  then  distempered  their  colours  to  lay  upon  this  gi'ound  with 
yolk  of  egg,  or  'tempera.'  Their  method  of  distempering  was  as  fol- 
lows :— They  took  the  yolk  of  an  egg  and  beat  it  up,  they  then  mixed 
with  the  egg  the  tender  shoots  of  a  fig,  in  order  that  the  milk  of  the  fig 
combined  with  the  egg  might  temper  the  colours  to  the  different  qualities 
with  which  they  afterwards  worked.  Their  colours  were  mineral,  partly 
made  by  the  alchymist,  partly  found  in  caves  and  grottos.  All  colours 
were  good  for  this  species  of  work,  except  white  made  from  slaked  lime, 
which  was  too  strong  for  the  purpose.  The  azures  were  tempered  with 
glue  or  size,  because  the  yellow  of  the  egg  was  liable  to  turn  them  green, 
but  the  glue  (size)  preserved  their  own  colour,  also  gum. 

"  This  method  can  be  pursued  either  with  or  without  the  preparatory 
chalk.  In  jjaintiug  upon  the  wall  when  dry  (as  opposed  to  fresco  when  the 
plaster  is  fresh),  the  method  is  the  same,  only  the  wall  is  first  prepared  to 
receive  the  tempera  colours  with  hot  size.  The  colours  themselves  can 
also  be  tempered  with  size  without  being  any  the  worse  for  it ;  it  was  a 
Dractice  with  many  of  the  old  masters,  whose  works  have  remained  for 
hundreds  of  years  in  their  first  beauty  and  freshness.  Certainly  this  freshness 
is  most  obvious  in  Giotto's  works,  for  there  is  not  one  of  them  which  does  not 
now  appear  as  fresh  as  when  it  was  first  painted  two  hundred  years  ago.' 

"The  recent  discovery  of  the  oil  colours  has  caused  many  to  lay  aside 
the  tempera,  so  that  we  see  this  new  method  constantly  employed  now 
both  in  panel  painting,  and  other  works  of  importance." 

Still  more  elaborate  recipes  for  the  illumination  of  books  are  to  be 
found  in  the  Monk  Theophilus's  "Schedule  of  Diff'erent  Arts,"^  already 
mentioned.  "We  give  one  or  two  at  full  length  as  instancing  the  minute 
care  and  pain  required  for  one  preparation  of  the  colours  before  using  them. 

Extracts  from  "SCHEDULE  OF  DIFFERENT  ARTS." 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

HOW   GOLD   AND   SILVER   ARE   LAID    IN   BOOKS. 

**  Afterwards  take  pure  minium  (red  lead)  and  add  to  it  a  third  part  of 
cinnabar  (vermilion),  grinding  it  upon  a  stone  with  water.  Which,  being 
carefully  ground,  beat  up  the  clear  of  the  white  of  an  egg,  in  summer  with 
water,  in  winter  without  water  ;  and  when  it  is  clear,  put  the  minium  into 
a  horn,  and  pour  the  clear  upon  it,  and  stir  it  a  little  with  a  piece  of  wood 
put  into  it,  and  with  a  pencil  fill  up  all  places  with  it  upon  which  you  wish 

*  The  first  edition  of  Vasari  was  published  1550. 
a  Vide  ante,  chapter  oa  Oil  Painting. 


120  APPENDIX. 

to  lay  gold.  Then  place  a  little  pot  with  glue  over  the  fire,  and  when  it  is 
liquified  pour  it  into  the  shell  of  gold,  and  wash  it  with  it.  When  you  have 
poured  which  into  another  shell,  in  which  the  purifj'ing  is  kept,  again 
pour  in  warm  glue,  and  holding  it  in  the  palm  of  your  left  hand,  stir  it 
carefully  with  the  pencil,  and  lay  it  on  where  you  wish,  thick  or  thin,  so, 
however  that  there  be  little  glue,  because,  should  it  exceed,  it  blackens 
the  gold  and  does  not  receive  a  polish  ;  but  after  it  has  dried,  polish  it 
with  a  tooth  or  bloodstone,  carefully  filed  and  polished,  upon  a  smooth 
and  shining  horn  tablet.  But  should  it  happen,  through  negligence  of 
the  glue  not  being  well  cooked,  that  the  gold  pulverises  in  rubbing,  or 
rises  on  account  of  too  great  thickness,  have  near  you  some  old  clear  of 
egg,  beat  up  without  water,  and  directly  with  a  pencil  paint  slightly  and 
quickly  over  the  gold  ;  when  it  is  dry  again  rub  it  with  the  tooth  or  stone. 
Lay  in  this  manner  silver,  brass,  and  copper  in  their  place  andx)olish  them." 

CHAPTER  XXXI V. 

HOW  COLOURS   ARE  TFMPERED   FOR   BOOKS. 

"These  things  thus  accomplished,  make  a  mixture  of  the  clearest  gum 
and  water  as  above,  and  temper  all  colours  except  green,  and  ceruse,  and 
minium,  and  carmine,  with  clear  of  egg.  Compose  all  preparations  of 
colours  for  a  book  as  above,  if  you  want  them  for  painting  figures.  All 
colours  are  laid  on  twice  in  books,  at  first  very  thinly,  then  more  thickly ; 
but  twice  for  letters." 

CHAPTER  XL. 

OF   INK. 

"  To  make  ink,  cut  for  yourself  wood  of  the  thorn-trees  in  April  or  May, 
before  they  produce  flowers  or  leaves,  and  collecting  them  in  small  bundles, 
allow  them  to  lie  in  the  shade  for  two,  three,  or  four  weeks  until  they  are 
somewhat  dry.  Then  have  wooden  mallets,  with  which  you  beat  these 
thorns  upon  another  i)iece  of  hard  wood,  until  you  peel  off  the  bark  every- 
where, put  which  immediately  into  a  barrel ful  of  water.  When  you  have 
filled  two  or  three,  or  four,  or  five  barrels  with  bark  and  water,  allow  them 
so  to  stand  for  eight  days,  until  the  waters  imbibe  all  the  sap  of  the  bark. 
Afterwards  x>ut  tliis  water  into  a  very  clean  pan,  or  into  a  cauldron,  and 
fire  being  placed  under  it,  boil  it  ;  from  time  to  time,  also,  throw  into  the 
pan  some  of  this  bark,  so  that  whatever  sap  may  remain  in  it  may  be 
boiled  out,  when  you  have  cooked  it  a  little,  throw  it  out,  and  again  put 
in  more  ;  which  done,  boil  down  the  remaining  water  unto  a  third  part,  and 
then,  pouring  it  out  of  this  pan,  put  it  into  one  smaller,  and  cook  it  until 
it  grows  black  and  begins  to  thicken  ;  adtl  one-third  part  of  pure  wine, 
and  putting  it  into  two  or  three  new  pots,  cook  it  until  you  see  a  sort  of 
skin  show  itself  on  the  surface  ;  then  taking  these  })ots  from  the  fire,  place 
them  in  the  sun  until  the  black  ink  purifies  itself  from  the  red  dregs. 
Afterwards  take  small  bags  of  ]tarchment,  carefully  sewn,  and  bladders, 
and  pouring  in  the  pure  ink,  suspend  them  iu  the  sun  until  all  is  (juite 
dry  ;  and  wlien  dry,  take  from  it  as  much  as  you  wish,  and  temper  it  with 
wine  over  the  fire,  and,  adding  a  little  vitrol,  write.  But  if  it  should 
happen  througli  negligence  that  your  ink  be  not  black  enoufjh,  take  a  frag- 
ment of  the  thickness  of  a  finger,  and  putting  it  into  the  fire,  allow  it  to 
glow,  and  throw  it  directly  into  the  ink." 


INDEX. 

(The  Names  of  Paintings  are  printed  in  italic.) 


Academy  Eoyal  (Old  Masters),  92. 
Alfonso,  King  of  Naples,  60,  61. 
Angelico,  Fra  Giovanni,  15,  25—56. 

„        Works  of,  53. 
Angiolini,  Bartolo  d'Angiolino,  19. 
A  nnunciation,  The,  33,  43. 
Antoninus,  S.,  41,  46,  57. 
Antwerp  Museum,  53. 
Apotheosis  of  S.  Thomas  Aquinas,  78. 


Cennini,  Andrea,  84. 
Coleoni,  Bartolommeo,  104. 
Conversion  of  S.  Thomas,  113. 
Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  by  Fra  An- 
gelico, 33. 

• ,  by  Filippo  Lippi,  62, 

• ,  by  Benozzo  Gozzoli,  78. 

,  by  Botticelli,  91. 

Cortona,  28,  29,  32,  43,  53. 


Badia,  Florence,  70,  72. 

Baptism  of  our  Saviour,  Tlie,  103. 

Baldovinetti,  Alesso,  68,  85. 

Benci,  Ginevra  de',  98. 

Benedetto,  Fra,  39,  57. 

Berlin  Museum,  36,  53,  65,  93,  100. 

Bologna,  72. 

Botticelli,  Sandro,  65,  68,  87,  90—95, 

109. 
Botticelli,  Works  of,  93. 
Brancacci,  Chapel  of  the. 

Frescoes  in,  13, 14,  18, 19, 22, 30, 
48,  69,  72. 
Brancacci,  Felice,  19, 
Branda,  Cardinal,  11. 
Brunelleschi,  Filippo  di  Ser,  8,  38, 86. 


Campo  Santo,  Pisa,  76,  78,  80. 
Caraffa,  Cappella  dei,  frescoes  in,  70. 
Carmine,  Convent  of  the,  58. 
Castiglione  di  Olona,  frescoes  at,  11— 

15. 
Castagno,  Andrea  del,  81,  82. 
Cellini,  Benvenuto,  88. 

P  F  A 


Dante,  28, 30,  31, 41,  44,  75,  81,  111. 
Death  of  S.  Bernard,  The,  62. 
Death  of  S.  Francis,  The,  91. 
Descent  from  the  Cross,  by  Signorelli, 

113. 
Diamante,  Fra,  64,  65,  68. 
Distemper,  or  a  tempera,  15,  83. 
Dominic,  S.,  Order  of,  26,  28. 
Donatello  or  Donate,  6,  8,  9. 


Fesch,  Cardinal,  Gallery  of,  36. 
Fiesole,  Convent  of,  27,  33,  34,  38,39, 

55. 
Florence,  Accademia  delle  belle  Arti, 

22,  34,  37,  43,  54,  65,  72,  91,  92,  97, 

99, 101. 
Florence,  Cathedral  of  (Santa  Maria 

del  Fiore),  5,  38,  68,  86. 
Foligno,  27—29, 100. 
Forli,  Melozzo  da,  78. 
Frankfort,  55. 
Francis,  S.  of  Assisi,  28. 
Fresco-Painting,  15,  83, 106. 
Fulminati,  Ttie,  111. 


122 


INDEX. 


Ghiberti,  2, 16, 19,  23,  87. 
Ghirlandajo,  70,  85—87,95—102, 109, 

110. 
Ghirlandajo,  Works  of,  100. 
Giotto,  1,  8,  28,  29,  75. 
Goldsmith  Painters,  The,  86—105. 
Gozzoli,  Benozzo,  74—80. 

„  „         Works  of,  79. 

Gradino,  A,  38. 


National  Gallery,  10,  24,  38,  56,  59, 

60,  66,  73,  76,  79,  89,  93,  94. 
Nativity  of  Christ,  The,  62. 
Nicholas  V.,  Pope,  46,  47,  50. 
„  Chapel  of,  48,  49. 


Oil-Painting,  origin  and  use  of,  83. 
Orvieto,  Cathedral  of,  46,  56,  74,  111, 
112. 


Hawkwood,  Condottiere,  5,  6. 


Institution  of  the  Holy   Communion 
113. 


Last  Judgment,  The,  by  Fra  Angelico. 
35,  36,  47. 

,  by  Signorelli,  111. 

iMjend  of  S.  Catherine,  The,  17,  18. 

Leopardo,  Alessandro,  l(-5. 

liClmo.  Hospital  of,  4. 

Life  of  Christ,  34. 

Lippi,  Fra  Filippo,  58—67. 

„  „  Works  of,  65. 

Lippi,  Filippino,  67 — 73. 

Works  of  72. 
Louvre,  The,  10,  33,  56,  59,'  67,  78,  79, 

95,  99,  102. 
Lucca,  73, 101. 
Lucifer  cast  out  of  Heaven,  1,  2. 


Macchiavelli,  Zanobi,  78. 

Jlfadonna  with  four  Saints,  60. 

IVIanetti,  3,  8. 

Martyrdom  of  S.  /Sebastian,  89. 

Marzuppini,  Carlo,  61. 

Masaccio,  8,  13,  16—24,  59,  69,  109. 

„         Works  of,  23. 
INfasolino  da  Panicale,  10 — 15,  17. 
Medici,  Cosimode',  18,39,44,60, 77.91. 

„      Giovanni  di  Bicci  de',  18,  19. 

„      Giovanni  de',  60. 

„      Lorenzode',  70,  77,  88,  91. 

„      Piero  de',  75. 

„      Giulianode',  77,  87,  91. 
Messina,  Antonello  da,  81,  85. 
Milan,  94. 
Montefalco,  75,  79. 
"  Morbidezza,"  1 7. 
Munich,  Pinakofchek,  £6,  66,  73,  95, 

102. 


Padua,  10. 

Palazzo  Pubblico,  Florence,  68, 69,  £2. 

Pazzi,  Congiura  de',  92. 

Perugia,  29,  56,  75,  79. 

Peruzzi,  Loggia  de',  8. 

Peselli,  or   Pesellino,  Francesco.  65, 

86. 
Pesello,  Giuliano  d'Arrigo,  85,  86. 
Pisano,  Niccolo,  27. 
Pisa,  76,  77,  78,  80. 
Pippo  Spano,  14. 
Pitti,  Palazzo,  62,  72,  94,  101. 
PollaiuoH,  The,  87—89,  114,  115. 
Polygnotus,  9,  15. 
Prato,  Frescoes  at,  63,  64,  67,  73. 
Predella,  A,  38. 


Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  23,  65,  107. 

Riccardi,  Palazzo,  60,  75. 

Roll  Call,  The,  6. 

Rome,  17,  45,  56,  67,  73,  95,  102. 

Rugerius,  83. 

Ruskiu,  Mr.,  98,  99. 


San  Cleraente,  Church  of,  Rome,  17. 

Sm  Fortunato,  Church  of,  near  Mon- 
tefalco, 75. 

Sm  Gimignano,  73,  76,  80. 

.San  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  Venice,  104. 

Sm  Marco,  Convent  of,  30,  39,  45,54, 
55,  101. 

Santa  Maria  Novella,  Church  of, 
Florence,  6,  10,  22,  27,  35,  72,  91, 
97, 101. 

Santi  Apostoli,  Churrh  of,  Rome,  78. 

Santo  Spirito,  Caurch  of,  Florence, 
59,  60,  70,  72. 

Sassetti  Chapel,  Frescoes  in,  96,  99. 

Savonarola,  92,  93. 

Schiavo,  Paolo,  15. 

Sellajo,  Jacopo  del,  65. 


INDEX. 


123 


Signorelli,  Luca,  110—115. 

Sixtine  Chapel,  Paintings  in,  107 — 

110, 114. 
Sixtus  IV.,  Pope,  89,  92,  96, 107, 114. 
Spoleto,  Cathedral  of,  frescoes  in,  64, 

67. 
Stefano  Fiorentino,  1,  2. 
Stamina,  Gherardo  della,  10. 
Strozzi,  Palazzo,  61. 

„       Chapel,  71,  72. 
Strozzi,  Zanobi,  78. 

Thompson,  Miss,  6. 
Tornabuoni,  Giovanni,  97. 
Turin,  56,  67. 

Uccello,  Paolo,  2—10. 

„  List  of  his  paintings,  10. 


Uffizi  Gallery,  10,  22,  36,  37,  54,  70, 
72,  76,  91—94,  97,  99, 101, 103. 

Van  Eyck,  83,  85. 
Vatican,  The,  27,  29,  48,  56. 
Veneziano,  Domenico,  59,  81 — 83. 
Veiins  Floating  on  a  Shell,  91. 
Verrocchio,  Andrea  del,  102 — 105. 
Vicchio,  26. 

Vinci,  Leonardo  da,  103. 
Virgin  Crowned  hy  Angels,  90. 
Virgin  Enthroned,  The,  76. 
Virgin  and  S.  Anna,  The,  78. 
Vision  of  S.  Bernard,  The,  60. 
Volterra,  88, 102,  112. 

Zeuxis,  107. 


TIIF.    END. 


p.    CLAV,    SONS,    AXD    TAYLOR,    PRINTKJU 


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